Podcast: The biologist Jan Černý
A cell is a versatile soldier and a small factory in one. Over a single human life an incredible number of them pass through the body to keep us alive. Cells are responsible for our quality of life, for ageing and regeneration, but when they turn antisocial, for tumour growth too. We talk about the most interesting things in the world of biology with Prof. RNDr. Jan Černý, Ph.D. on our partner podcast Brain We Are.
When it comes to genetic make-up, we can be sure that every living creature carries some. Genetic information is stored in our cells and is, apart from small mutations at each cell division, roughly the same everywhere. But how is it possible that cases appear in which one body contains two or more different sets of genetic information? Such cases include Lydia Fairchild, whose genetic tests showed she was not the mother of her own children. How is that possible? Lydia was a chimera.
Chimeras are individuals containing cells from more than one genetic population. They usually arise, for instance, during pregnancy through so-called microchimerism, when the foetus's stem cells colonise the mother's body and vice versa. The mother then has her child's cells in her body, that is, a unique genetic combination of her and her partner's genes. Another example of how a chimera can arise is when two foetuses in the womb exchange cells with each other, or even merge into one. Lydia Fairchild's case was the latter. Her cells and those of her embryonic sister merged into one individual, so Lydia had different genetic information in different parts of her body. While samples from one part did not match her child's DNA, samples from another part did.
Microchimerism is entirely common in the population; as Professor Černý says in the podcast, every mother has her child's cells in her body, and that probably also helps her live longer. Stem cells are an extremely important factor in the regeneration and renewal of tissue. Want to know about chimeras, longevity and stem cells? Listen to the podcast with Professor Jan Černý!
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