The Mum Made of TWO Women

The Sun [UK] ^ | November 13, 2003 | Brian Flynn

[sunryse]

This is hilarious!!!

[Ichneumon]

I was about to mention mosaicism as a variation of chimerism, but then I saw that your linked article had a good overview of it.

Quick teaser: Mosaicism occurs when one of the cells in the early stages of the embryo suffers a copy error or other type of mutation during cell division, ultimately resulting in an individual who has some parts of his body (those composed of cells "descended" from the faulty cell) genetically different from the other parts of his body.

I first found out about this syndrome while researching possible causes for my wife's atypical migraines. Mosaicism can cause all sorts of bizarre medical cases, since the symptoms (if any) depend upon the vast numbers of ways that cells can "fumble" their DNA, multiplied by the vast numbers of ways that the good cells / bad cells can be distributed in the body (causing only certain tissues/organs to be affected, and not others).

As PW's linked article mentions, research is underway to see if mosaicism might be responsible for some cases of autism and alzheimer's, for example.

[Ichneumon]

Fused twins. So the twin that did not develop lives on in her sister's children?

In a sense, neither twin "did not develop" -- they *both* developed, just as different "stripes" of tissue in the resulting adult.

[PatrickHenry]

My fused twin, with whom I've been consulting (he's the source of my "voices"), shares my opinion that you're a poop-head.

[boris]

It might have been her sister, Teratoma...

teratoma

SYLLABICATION: ter·a·to·ma

NOUN: Inflected forms: pl. ter·a·to·mas or ter·a·to·ma·ta (-m-t) A tumor consisting of different types of tissue, as of skin, hair, and muscle, caused by the development of independent germ cells.

Teeth are occassionally part of the squamous components of an ovarian teratoma.

[mikegi]

Two separate genetic lines require two separate fertilized eggs which would result in two separate gestational sacs -> normal non-identical twins. In this woman's case, she and her twin must have had their blastocysts merge shortly after hatching for such a complete mixture of lines.

[js1138]

Assuming this story is not a hoax and does not represent an error of diagnosis, I'm going to bet the condition is a lot more common than currently thought. Has anyone been routinely testing for it, and does it present any symptoms? It could be as common as identical twins, and no one ever noticed.

There are, however, numerous anecdotes about children who appear to be adopted.

[PatrickHenry]

There are, however, numerous anecdotes about children who appear to be adopted.

Less now, what with the decline in home-delivery milk.

[Nataku X]

Some women have perpetual menustration. If this girl was telling the truth, she gave the wrong reason ("not team players") for her perpetual menustration. However I don't see how she can have menses with both vaginas... two vaginas, maybe, two complete sets of reproductive organs, no...

That being said, my best friend claims that he knew a man who had his organs reversed--the heart was in the right side, etc... that does happen, but the kicker is, his genitials were in the back as well. Yikes.

[js1138]

I never quite understood that. I had home delivered milk as a child, then again as recently as five years ago. In both cases the milkman arrived about four a.m. Not exactly prime time for catching mom alone.

[Sloth]

I would agree with whoever said this is analogous to organ transplant. Just because portions of a person's body survive doesn't mean the *person* is alive. And even if 2 souls were carried in this body, it wouldn't particularly bother me. God can tell them apart just fine.

[Doctor Stochastic]

Not really. The DNA of sisters is rather close generally.

[Rutabega]

Oh oh oh! (waving hand frantically!) I had three kidneys and one and a half bladders and was told I was probably twins who didn't seperate all the way!!! I have never heard of this, and always thought that though it seems at times I might be suffering from multiple personality disorder, I explained it away from being two joined gemini twins (hahaha). Seriously--is this freaky, or sort of kewl?

[PatrickHenry]

... my best friend claims that he knew a man who had his organs reversed--the heart was in the right side, etc... that does happen, but the kicker is, his genitials were in the back as well.

There is indeed such a condition. Commonly known as situs inversus. It's very rare, and often associated with heart abnormalities. Sterility too, I believe. It's also known as Kartagener's Syndrome (phonetic spelling, sorry).

[Grit]

Rabbit-human crosses. That could have some interesting implications...

[MHGinTN]

Several IVF clinics are now needle injecting a single sperm into the harvested ova, instead of exposing the ova to massive amounts of sperm in the dish.

[MHGinTN]

Then there is the odd 'fetus in fetu' anomoly.

[Aracelis]

Hmm...that certainly circumvents the ova's ability to repell or accept sperm.

[Aracelis]

research is underway to see if mosaicism might be responsible for some cases of autism and alzheimer's, for example.

Any mention of psychiatric disorders in the research you have done on mosaicism?

[VadeRetro]

My fused twin...

So if the bartender asks, "Would you like a double?", you have your little stock of jokes all ready.