1 00:00:03,080 --> 00:00:06,000 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind from how Stuff 2 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:13,400 Speaker 1: Works dot Com. Yea, Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow 3 00:00:13,400 --> 00:00:16,360 Speaker 1: your Mind. My name is Robert Lamb and I'm Julie Douglas. Julie. 4 00:00:16,400 --> 00:00:19,760 Speaker 1: We often think about ourselves as as a whole, and 5 00:00:19,800 --> 00:00:22,680 Speaker 1: we've we've discussed that before in the past, and sort 6 00:00:22,720 --> 00:00:24,520 Speaker 1: of the fallacy that we think of ourselves as this 7 00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:28,960 Speaker 1: one body, this one autonomous thing, but of course we 8 00:00:29,000 --> 00:00:32,839 Speaker 1: are also a host of smaller creatures living inside us. 9 00:00:33,159 --> 00:00:34,760 Speaker 1: You can say, you can also go far to say 10 00:00:34,760 --> 00:00:37,479 Speaker 1: that our our cellular communities are nothing more than than 11 00:00:37,560 --> 00:00:40,120 Speaker 1: just that communities of individuals that make up this whole. 12 00:00:40,640 --> 00:00:42,680 Speaker 1: And in this episode of stuff Will in your mind, 13 00:00:42,680 --> 00:00:46,800 Speaker 1: we're gonna throw another log onto that fire that illuminates 14 00:00:46,920 --> 00:00:51,080 Speaker 1: the the multiple aspects of who we are. That's right. 15 00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:56,000 Speaker 1: It is the chimera, which is this idea that comes 16 00:00:56,080 --> 00:00:59,720 Speaker 1: from Greek mythology. We're talking about a fire breathing creature 17 00:01:00,280 --> 00:01:03,680 Speaker 1: that was part serpent, part lion, and part goat. And 18 00:01:03,680 --> 00:01:06,679 Speaker 1: in many ways, when we talk about being host and 19 00:01:06,680 --> 00:01:09,200 Speaker 1: and having some sort of micro biome in us, that 20 00:01:09,480 --> 00:01:12,720 Speaker 1: perhaps gaming the way that we work physically and mentally, 21 00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:17,240 Speaker 1: we are these kind of part line goat Chimera. Yeah. 22 00:01:17,280 --> 00:01:20,800 Speaker 1: According to Homer, Um it just had the body of 23 00:01:20,840 --> 00:01:22,760 Speaker 1: the gigantic goat, the hind parts of the serpent, the 24 00:01:22,760 --> 00:01:24,959 Speaker 1: head of a lion, other depictions. You see, it is 25 00:01:24,959 --> 00:01:27,280 Speaker 1: having head of all three. Really, it's kind of train 26 00:01:27,319 --> 00:01:29,360 Speaker 1: wreck of a monster. It's not it's not not the 27 00:01:29,400 --> 00:01:31,679 Speaker 1: most elegant. Uh. It was said to be the progeny 28 00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:35,959 Speaker 1: of two other monsters, um a kidney beautiful woman up top, 29 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:39,160 Speaker 1: serpent down below, and Typhon, which is a nebulous gigantic 30 00:01:39,160 --> 00:01:41,679 Speaker 1: form composed of hundreds of dragons, heads and serpent, arms 31 00:01:41,680 --> 00:01:44,160 Speaker 1: and legs, breathe fire and love. And it was created 32 00:01:44,200 --> 00:01:46,559 Speaker 1: by Gaya after the defeat of the Titans to assail 33 00:01:46,600 --> 00:01:48,920 Speaker 1: the forces of the gods. And in the Chimera had 34 00:01:48,920 --> 00:01:52,720 Speaker 1: all these monsters siblings, including Cerebus, the Ninian Lion, the Hydra, 35 00:01:52,840 --> 00:01:57,280 Speaker 1: and the Sphinx. Is eventually slain by Bellerophon Astride the Pegasus, 36 00:01:57,360 --> 00:01:59,920 Speaker 1: and in medieval already comes to symbolize the complex na 37 00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:02,960 Speaker 1: nature of evil. Okay, and we we wanted to bring 38 00:02:03,040 --> 00:02:06,120 Speaker 1: up the Chimera in both its mythological form and in 39 00:02:06,280 --> 00:02:09,800 Speaker 1: the form of animals because we're going to get to it. 40 00:02:09,880 --> 00:02:12,240 Speaker 1: But there's some really cool things going on on a 41 00:02:12,240 --> 00:02:15,560 Speaker 1: celegular level that sort of brings into question who we are. 42 00:02:15,600 --> 00:02:17,280 Speaker 1: We always bring this up, like, am I really me? 43 00:02:17,400 --> 00:02:19,760 Speaker 1: Am I? Parts of me? Um? What is mean? What's this? 44 00:02:19,880 --> 00:02:22,720 Speaker 1: My brain and my body? Am I a brain? Body? 45 00:02:23,240 --> 00:02:25,239 Speaker 1: Am I the me that I think I am? Or 46 00:02:25,280 --> 00:02:28,200 Speaker 1: am I to me that exists under the surface of 47 00:02:28,480 --> 00:02:31,440 Speaker 1: conscious thought? Well? Or am I the me that is 48 00:02:31,480 --> 00:02:34,680 Speaker 1: really accumulation of actually other people in other people's cells? 49 00:02:34,680 --> 00:02:38,600 Speaker 1: How could that be? Yes, we'll find out. But first 50 00:02:38,919 --> 00:02:44,000 Speaker 1: let's talk about some naturally occurring chimeras. We're talking about slime, mold, 51 00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:47,000 Speaker 1: and corals. Those are far less ominous than the fire 52 00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:51,200 Speaker 1: breathing kind, right and um. Chimeric can also refer to 53 00:02:51,280 --> 00:02:53,760 Speaker 1: an animal that has two or more different sets of 54 00:02:53,800 --> 00:02:56,320 Speaker 1: genetically distinct cells working together. So we have a couple 55 00:02:56,360 --> 00:03:01,399 Speaker 1: of man made examples. One is a pig that researchers 56 00:03:01,400 --> 00:03:04,600 Speaker 1: at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota had created a pig 57 00:03:04,639 --> 00:03:07,680 Speaker 1: with human blood pumping through its veins, and some of 58 00:03:07,680 --> 00:03:13,480 Speaker 1: the cells merged together, creating pig human cell hybrid cells. Here. 59 00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:16,840 Speaker 1: So what we're talking about is this idea that you 60 00:03:16,840 --> 00:03:20,600 Speaker 1: can have an experiment that could give scientists bet our 61 00:03:20,680 --> 00:03:23,560 Speaker 1: understanding of how viral infections can pass from one animal 62 00:03:23,600 --> 00:03:27,600 Speaker 1: to humans, like HIV. It's not just like, hey, let's 63 00:03:27,600 --> 00:03:29,800 Speaker 1: cross a pig's blood with a humans blood and have 64 00:03:29,960 --> 00:03:31,920 Speaker 1: some fun here, you know. It kind of sounds like 65 00:03:31,919 --> 00:03:34,400 Speaker 1: it's a way to to create a ready source of 66 00:03:34,440 --> 00:03:36,480 Speaker 1: human blood and then you just mark the pigs in 67 00:03:36,520 --> 00:03:39,640 Speaker 1: when it's time for a transfusion. That would work too. Yeah, 68 00:03:39,680 --> 00:03:42,600 Speaker 1: it's kind of monstrous on all fronts. But I mean, 69 00:03:42,640 --> 00:03:46,320 Speaker 1: but again, we get into this idea that we're dealing with, 70 00:03:46,320 --> 00:03:49,160 Speaker 1: this initial idea that chimera as a monster, that any 71 00:03:49,280 --> 00:03:51,920 Speaker 1: kind of form that involves bits of others is a hybrid, 72 00:03:51,960 --> 00:03:54,880 Speaker 1: and it's weird and it's gross and probably against God's 73 00:03:54,960 --> 00:03:58,840 Speaker 1: natural order. But it's we discussing here. Hybrids do occur 74 00:03:59,080 --> 00:04:02,960 Speaker 1: within the natural limits of life, and in a sense, 75 00:04:03,080 --> 00:04:06,600 Speaker 1: we are all chimeras. It's right, micro chimers, which we'll 76 00:04:06,600 --> 00:04:09,120 Speaker 1: talk about in a moment. But I wanted to bring 77 00:04:09,200 --> 00:04:14,120 Speaker 1: up this particularly uh pure form of chimera in the 78 00:04:14,200 --> 00:04:18,760 Speaker 1: form of humans. And uh, this became known because in 79 00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:22,880 Speaker 1: a woman named Jane found out that she needed a 80 00:04:22,920 --> 00:04:27,760 Speaker 1: kidney transplant. An amazing story, all right, So she has 81 00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:30,960 Speaker 1: her son, she has three sons, and uh, they give 82 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:32,640 Speaker 1: some blood samples to see if she would be a 83 00:04:32,680 --> 00:04:36,599 Speaker 1: good match to be a kidney downer. Well what comes 84 00:04:36,640 --> 00:04:40,599 Speaker 1: back is that, okay, um, what you know, miss Jane 85 00:04:40,640 --> 00:04:43,239 Speaker 1: or whatever your full name is, because that's never actually 86 00:04:43,279 --> 00:04:45,720 Speaker 1: told obviously for her privacy. But what comes back is, 87 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:48,640 Speaker 1: miss Jane, we want to tell you that you could 88 00:04:48,640 --> 00:04:53,000 Speaker 1: not possibly be the biological mother of these two of 89 00:04:53,040 --> 00:04:55,719 Speaker 1: your three sons, which to her is sort of like, 90 00:04:55,720 --> 00:04:58,440 Speaker 1: what are you talking about? Because that it either means oh, 91 00:04:58,480 --> 00:05:00,880 Speaker 1: I'm not who I think I am or the children 92 00:05:00,880 --> 00:05:03,320 Speaker 1: were swapped out in the hospital. You can just imagine 93 00:05:03,320 --> 00:05:06,080 Speaker 1: the various scenarios that would roll around in your head 94 00:05:06,480 --> 00:05:09,520 Speaker 1: and wrestle with each other when the doctors telling you that, yeah, 95 00:05:09,520 --> 00:05:12,080 Speaker 1: and she's saying, no, I'm the biological mother these children. 96 00:05:12,200 --> 00:05:15,160 Speaker 1: Trust me. I had them. They came out of my uterus. 97 00:05:15,560 --> 00:05:18,000 Speaker 1: I have this memory of it. And they keep saying, well, 98 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:21,119 Speaker 1: are you sure you know? Maybe they were switched at birth? 99 00:05:21,360 --> 00:05:25,599 Speaker 1: And it took the researchers two years to figure this out. 100 00:05:26,480 --> 00:05:28,960 Speaker 1: But Margot Crestfall, she was a daughter. She is a 101 00:05:28,960 --> 00:05:32,239 Speaker 1: doctor at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston figured 102 00:05:32,279 --> 00:05:36,440 Speaker 1: out that Jane is a chimera, a mixture of two individuals, 103 00:05:37,120 --> 00:05:40,360 Speaker 1: and what we're talking about are non identical twin sisters 104 00:05:40,839 --> 00:05:44,559 Speaker 1: who fused in the womb and grew into a single body. Yes, 105 00:05:44,800 --> 00:05:50,040 Speaker 1: she dwight shrewded her twin. Well, it's it's almost crazier 106 00:05:50,040 --> 00:05:51,440 Speaker 1: than that. It's like, it's not just like she be. 107 00:05:51,720 --> 00:05:54,760 Speaker 1: Those two people became one, you know. It's like it's 108 00:05:54,760 --> 00:05:59,040 Speaker 1: like the fly Jeff Goldbloom in a telepod with a fly, 109 00:05:59,240 --> 00:06:01,640 Speaker 1: and they emerged, the one being on the other end, 110 00:06:01,720 --> 00:06:04,960 Speaker 1: essentially a chimera. And here we have in the telepod 111 00:06:05,040 --> 00:06:08,520 Speaker 1: of the womb, these two individuals merged together and become 112 00:06:08,520 --> 00:06:12,200 Speaker 1: a single organism, a single individual. Yes, so I mean 113 00:06:12,240 --> 00:06:16,359 Speaker 1: she is She's technically a tetra game medic chimera, and 114 00:06:16,720 --> 00:06:18,720 Speaker 1: that is a person whose body is made up from 115 00:06:18,880 --> 00:06:22,800 Speaker 1: two genetically distinct lines of cells derived from a total 116 00:06:22,800 --> 00:06:26,320 Speaker 1: of four gamme eats, eggs, and sperm. So the cells 117 00:06:26,360 --> 00:06:30,719 Speaker 1: from only one twin have come to dominate and Jane's blood, 118 00:06:30,880 --> 00:06:32,920 Speaker 1: so the tissue used in the tissue typing in the 119 00:06:32,920 --> 00:06:35,360 Speaker 1: test for her kidney. That's what we're talking about here. 120 00:06:35,839 --> 00:06:39,240 Speaker 1: In her other tissues, including her ovaries, cells of both 121 00:06:39,320 --> 00:06:43,200 Speaker 1: types of lived alongside each other. And that accounts for 122 00:06:43,240 --> 00:06:45,600 Speaker 1: the genetics of her three sons, because one came from 123 00:06:45,640 --> 00:06:49,400 Speaker 1: an egg derived from the twin who cells dominate Jane's blood, 124 00:06:50,160 --> 00:06:52,400 Speaker 1: while the two brother the other two brothers came from 125 00:06:52,400 --> 00:06:55,680 Speaker 1: eggs derived from the other twin cells. Wow. So it's 126 00:06:55,800 --> 00:06:58,159 Speaker 1: so even though one of the twins ended up being 127 00:06:58,200 --> 00:07:03,240 Speaker 1: dominant in the individual, the other twin managed to have children. 128 00:07:03,800 --> 00:07:07,239 Speaker 1: Like that's just like almost almost like a ghostly sense, 129 00:07:07,240 --> 00:07:10,200 Speaker 1: almost like from beyond the grave. Well, that's what's so 130 00:07:10,280 --> 00:07:13,600 Speaker 1: amazing about this, this idea that you could carry with 131 00:07:13,720 --> 00:07:18,360 Speaker 1: you someone else's cells and that Yeah, there's just this 132 00:07:18,480 --> 00:07:22,320 Speaker 1: ghostly like sort of association that that would be informing 133 00:07:22,560 --> 00:07:26,800 Speaker 1: also your children, your children's genetics. Uh so that that 134 00:07:26,960 --> 00:07:30,360 Speaker 1: is an extreme case of this. Imagine your your siblings 135 00:07:30,440 --> 00:07:34,840 Speaker 1: and you both have the same mother, but you have 136 00:07:34,960 --> 00:07:38,440 Speaker 1: two different biological mothers, but those two biological mothers are 137 00:07:38,440 --> 00:07:41,920 Speaker 1: the same mother. It. Wow, it's really confusing. It's a 138 00:07:41,920 --> 00:07:46,400 Speaker 1: bit of a head trip. But now um ivf in 139 00:07:46,560 --> 00:07:49,880 Speaker 1: vitro fertilization increases the odds of having for tunnel twins 140 00:07:49,960 --> 00:07:54,560 Speaker 1: about thirtyfold and is also associated with an increased risk 141 00:07:54,600 --> 00:07:57,440 Speaker 1: of chimera. So it may not be I mean, they 142 00:07:57,440 --> 00:08:00,840 Speaker 1: don't have a ton of research on on this so far, 143 00:08:01,280 --> 00:08:04,120 Speaker 1: but it may not just be so crazy going forward, 144 00:08:04,200 --> 00:08:07,640 Speaker 1: since IVF has been a pretty good option out there 145 00:08:07,760 --> 00:08:11,640 Speaker 1: for a couple of decades. Now. Yeah, but this is 146 00:08:11,680 --> 00:08:15,400 Speaker 1: an extreme example of cells dominating your body. But it 147 00:08:15,400 --> 00:08:17,640 Speaker 1: turns out that all of us have cells from someone 148 00:08:17,680 --> 00:08:21,200 Speaker 1: else hanging out, which seems like an incredible statement, but 149 00:08:21,240 --> 00:08:23,280 Speaker 1: it is true. And in this we're getting into the 150 00:08:23,320 --> 00:08:26,960 Speaker 1: realm of microchimerism. Yeah. So this is when you possess 151 00:08:27,000 --> 00:08:28,920 Speaker 1: a small number of cells in your body that are 152 00:08:28,960 --> 00:08:32,080 Speaker 1: not genetically your own. And this was first noticed in 153 00:08:32,160 --> 00:08:36,200 Speaker 1: nine when a researcher at Stanford University found a few 154 00:08:36,240 --> 00:08:40,600 Speaker 1: cells with Y sex chromosomes and a pregnant woman's blood 155 00:08:41,360 --> 00:08:44,160 Speaker 1: and those cells had to have come from her son 156 00:08:45,440 --> 00:08:50,400 Speaker 1: since women have only X chromosomes. She had male chromosomes 157 00:08:50,440 --> 00:08:52,560 Speaker 1: in her body even though she's a pregnant female, right, 158 00:08:52,720 --> 00:08:54,720 Speaker 1: So that that was the first inkling that something was 159 00:08:54,760 --> 00:08:57,880 Speaker 1: going on. Um, so it turns out that all pregnant 160 00:08:57,880 --> 00:09:00,760 Speaker 1: women carry some these are called fetals els by the way, 161 00:09:00,800 --> 00:09:04,160 Speaker 1: and DNA. Up to six percent of the free floating 162 00:09:04,240 --> 00:09:07,640 Speaker 1: DNA in the mother's blood plasma comes from the fetus, 163 00:09:07,720 --> 00:09:10,080 Speaker 1: and after the baby is born, those numbers plummet, but 164 00:09:10,240 --> 00:09:13,719 Speaker 1: some cells remain and they actually just don't hang out there. 165 00:09:13,760 --> 00:09:15,800 Speaker 1: They they do things in the body. And we'll talk 166 00:09:15,800 --> 00:09:17,840 Speaker 1: a little bit more about that. Yeah, there's a wonderful 167 00:09:17,920 --> 00:09:22,040 Speaker 1: quote in this New Scientists article by Nancy Shoot Beyond Birth, 168 00:09:22,679 --> 00:09:25,160 Speaker 1: and it goes as follows. She says, mother and child 169 00:09:25,160 --> 00:09:28,960 Speaker 1: are engaged in a silent chemical conversation throughout pregnancy, with 170 00:09:29,000 --> 00:09:31,880 Speaker 1: bits of genetic material and cells passing not only from 171 00:09:31,920 --> 00:09:35,120 Speaker 1: mother to child, but also from child to mother. That's 172 00:09:35,160 --> 00:09:38,640 Speaker 1: right in that two way street is the pacenta, right um. 173 00:09:38,679 --> 00:09:41,280 Speaker 1: The pacenta is an organ it's built of cells from 174 00:09:41,320 --> 00:09:44,400 Speaker 1: both the mother and the fetus, and it serves just 175 00:09:44,440 --> 00:09:46,520 Speaker 1: as a reminder for everybody as a conduit for the 176 00:09:46,520 --> 00:09:49,560 Speaker 1: exchange of nutrients, gases, and waste. And so it's porous, 177 00:09:49,760 --> 00:09:52,720 Speaker 1: and so you do have the cells um from from 178 00:09:52,720 --> 00:09:55,920 Speaker 1: mother and child passing between each other. That's one of 179 00:09:55,920 --> 00:09:58,199 Speaker 1: the ways that you can pass cells to each other, 180 00:09:58,280 --> 00:10:01,120 Speaker 1: kind of a cellular backwash. I like that. Yeah, so 181 00:10:01,280 --> 00:10:04,960 Speaker 1: you're backwash. After cells crossover, some get rounded up and 182 00:10:05,080 --> 00:10:08,880 Speaker 1: killed by the new host immune system, but some of 183 00:10:08,880 --> 00:10:12,960 Speaker 1: them take root in the body. They burrow into the heart, liver, kidneys, 184 00:10:12,960 --> 00:10:17,559 Speaker 1: spleen skin, pancreas, gall bladdering testines, among other places. They're 185 00:10:17,640 --> 00:10:19,800 Speaker 1: kind of like squatters, really like they are clearly and 186 00:10:19,880 --> 00:10:22,000 Speaker 1: not supposed to be there. Police round up the ones 187 00:10:22,080 --> 00:10:25,400 Speaker 1: they can, but communities begin to take root in certain 188 00:10:25,720 --> 00:10:28,720 Speaker 1: you know, abandoned buildings and back alleys. Yeah, and some 189 00:10:28,800 --> 00:10:32,760 Speaker 1: of them become really productive members of body society. And 190 00:10:32,800 --> 00:10:36,680 Speaker 1: this will discuss somebody not um Now. The fetal cells 191 00:10:36,679 --> 00:10:40,400 Speaker 1: can also be passed through mother to infant, through nursing, 192 00:10:41,280 --> 00:10:45,640 Speaker 1: and also through transfusions and transplants. We're talking about bone 193 00:10:45,640 --> 00:10:48,760 Speaker 1: marrow transplants and organ transplants, and that sort of brings 194 00:10:48,840 --> 00:10:51,920 Speaker 1: up into question, you know, well, how do these cells 195 00:10:52,320 --> 00:10:55,960 Speaker 1: figure into someone who's not even related to the person 196 00:10:56,080 --> 00:11:00,040 Speaker 1: who you know, the organ was transplanted in. And we 197 00:11:00,080 --> 00:11:03,160 Speaker 1: cannot answer these questions right now. In fact, this discovery 198 00:11:03,400 --> 00:11:07,880 Speaker 1: of microchimerism actually brings up a lot more questions than answers. 199 00:11:08,080 --> 00:11:11,440 Speaker 1: But it's pretty fascinating stuff. Let's take a quick break 200 00:11:11,480 --> 00:11:13,080 Speaker 1: and when we get back, we're going to talk about 201 00:11:13,120 --> 00:11:16,680 Speaker 1: how those fetal cells hang out in your body and 202 00:11:16,840 --> 00:11:30,360 Speaker 1: what they do. All right, we're back. Microchimerism. It's pretty nutty, 203 00:11:30,520 --> 00:11:33,360 Speaker 1: it yeah. In fact, last year it was found that 204 00:11:33,480 --> 00:11:38,760 Speaker 1: male DNA was discovered in the female brain, and this 205 00:11:38,920 --> 00:11:41,240 Speaker 1: led everybody to understand that fetal cells are able to 206 00:11:41,280 --> 00:11:44,200 Speaker 1: cross the blood brain barrier. Now, this is that that 207 00:11:44,559 --> 00:11:46,719 Speaker 1: sort of membrane that keeps out sort of the bad 208 00:11:46,760 --> 00:11:49,680 Speaker 1: things that make sure that you don't get toxic chemicals 209 00:11:49,679 --> 00:11:52,679 Speaker 1: that are traveling to your brain and and messing up 210 00:11:52,679 --> 00:11:55,920 Speaker 1: the works in there um. But this fetal cell being 211 00:11:55,960 --> 00:11:58,520 Speaker 1: able to cross the blood brain barrier was found in 212 00:11:58,600 --> 00:12:03,040 Speaker 1: Researchers at the Department Biochemistry at the University of Alberta 213 00:12:03,200 --> 00:12:07,360 Speaker 1: examined brain autopsy specimens from fifty nine women. They had 214 00:12:07,400 --> 00:12:10,120 Speaker 1: died between the ages of thirty two and a hundred 215 00:12:10,160 --> 00:12:13,880 Speaker 1: and one. Now, male microcomerism, as it's called in this case, 216 00:12:14,000 --> 00:12:17,400 Speaker 1: was detected in sixty three percent of the subjects and 217 00:12:17,600 --> 00:12:21,880 Speaker 1: was distributed in multiple brain regions and was potentially persistent 218 00:12:21,920 --> 00:12:25,720 Speaker 1: throughout the human lifespans. Of the sixty percent of the subjects, 219 00:12:26,520 --> 00:12:29,600 Speaker 1: the oldest female in whom male fetal DNA was detected 220 00:12:29,640 --> 00:12:32,760 Speaker 1: in the brain was ninety four years old. Now this 221 00:12:32,920 --> 00:12:35,720 Speaker 1: is kind of a huge thing because they had known 222 00:12:35,760 --> 00:12:38,160 Speaker 1: that had migrated to different parts of the body, but 223 00:12:38,200 --> 00:12:40,280 Speaker 1: they did not know what it was doing in the 224 00:12:40,360 --> 00:12:42,480 Speaker 1: brain and if it even acted on the brain, and 225 00:12:42,480 --> 00:12:45,640 Speaker 1: that is still a big question mark. But they have 226 00:12:45,880 --> 00:12:49,480 Speaker 1: looked at Alzheimer's disease because they know that it's more 227 00:12:49,520 --> 00:12:53,240 Speaker 1: common in women who have had multiple pregnancies, and they 228 00:12:53,280 --> 00:12:55,280 Speaker 1: thought that they would find that the number of fetal 229 00:12:55,320 --> 00:12:58,319 Speaker 1: sales would be a lot greater in women with Alzheimer's 230 00:12:58,360 --> 00:13:01,000 Speaker 1: compared to those who had no evidence for any sort 231 00:13:01,040 --> 00:13:04,559 Speaker 1: of neurological disorders or disease. But this is the weird 232 00:13:04,600 --> 00:13:07,760 Speaker 1: thing that the opposite was true of what they thought 233 00:13:07,800 --> 00:13:10,040 Speaker 1: was going to happen. There were fewer fetal derived cells 234 00:13:10,040 --> 00:13:12,720 Speaker 1: and women with Alzheimer's. So they're still trying to figure 235 00:13:12,760 --> 00:13:16,440 Speaker 1: out what sort of connection that might have. And you know, 236 00:13:16,520 --> 00:13:18,520 Speaker 1: long term, there might be some sort of information about 237 00:13:18,520 --> 00:13:22,200 Speaker 1: how those how those cells act on the brain, and 238 00:13:22,360 --> 00:13:24,079 Speaker 1: you know, you have to also consider that in animal 239 00:13:24,160 --> 00:13:28,040 Speaker 1: studies that microchimerate cells were found in maternal brains where 240 00:13:28,040 --> 00:13:31,680 Speaker 1: they became nerve cells, it became active members of that 241 00:13:31,760 --> 00:13:38,280 Speaker 1: brain society, suggesting that they might have a functionality integrated. Now, 242 00:13:38,280 --> 00:13:40,720 Speaker 1: of course, in all this you have to avoid the 243 00:13:40,720 --> 00:13:44,560 Speaker 1: temptation to fall into a magical understanding of what's happening. 244 00:13:45,600 --> 00:13:47,920 Speaker 1: When when we were researching this, I kept finding people 245 00:13:47,960 --> 00:13:50,200 Speaker 1: talking about some of these studies on message boards and 246 00:13:50,240 --> 00:13:53,600 Speaker 1: getting a little sentimental and at times a little goofy 247 00:13:53,720 --> 00:13:56,120 Speaker 1: about what it meant. Uh. And certainly you see that 248 00:13:56,200 --> 00:13:59,800 Speaker 1: even with with ideas of organ transplants and limb transplants 249 00:13:59,800 --> 00:14:01,640 Speaker 1: and mean sort of the idea that you know, go 250 00:14:01,679 --> 00:14:03,360 Speaker 1: back to the little horror movie with Michael Caine. You 251 00:14:03,400 --> 00:14:05,560 Speaker 1: get a hand transplanted onto your body and it's the 252 00:14:05,559 --> 00:14:07,600 Speaker 1: hand of a criminal, and suddenly you're gonna do criminal 253 00:14:07,720 --> 00:14:11,360 Speaker 1: things because it's the criminal's body part, that's the criminals hand, 254 00:14:11,400 --> 00:14:14,439 Speaker 1: and now it's part of you. So you have to again, 255 00:14:14,480 --> 00:14:16,800 Speaker 1: you have to put that out of your head. Um. 256 00:14:17,120 --> 00:14:20,880 Speaker 1: And there's plenty of weird, almost magical seeming stuff that's 257 00:14:20,880 --> 00:14:24,240 Speaker 1: going on anyway, without bringing all of that nonsense and 258 00:14:24,320 --> 00:14:27,000 Speaker 1: the equation. It's true, and you know, at some level though, 259 00:14:27,040 --> 00:14:29,240 Speaker 1: it is symbolic and it's kind of nice to think that, 260 00:14:29,320 --> 00:14:30,920 Speaker 1: you know, your mom is always carrying a bit of 261 00:14:30,960 --> 00:14:33,880 Speaker 1: you around, and you're always carrying around some of your mom. 262 00:14:34,120 --> 00:14:37,640 Speaker 1: But then but but again, it's just it's selves, it's 263 00:14:37,680 --> 00:14:40,560 Speaker 1: not it sells. But here's this just a complicated Like 264 00:14:40,600 --> 00:14:42,960 Speaker 1: there's a little her in your flesh pocket on your side, 265 00:14:43,000 --> 00:14:45,520 Speaker 1: and she's looking up at you like telling you to 266 00:14:45,520 --> 00:14:51,560 Speaker 1: eat your piece. Totally is right now my flesh pocket. Thanks, Yeah, 267 00:14:51,800 --> 00:14:57,080 Speaker 1: hey mom um. So here's here's something to complicated. There's 268 00:14:57,080 --> 00:15:00,800 Speaker 1: a possibility that sells from an older sibling residing in 269 00:15:00,840 --> 00:15:03,880 Speaker 1: the mother may find their way back across the placenta 270 00:15:04,000 --> 00:15:06,560 Speaker 1: to a younger sibling. Now that's where it just gets 271 00:15:06,600 --> 00:15:09,280 Speaker 1: kind of gross. Like, here's the weird thing, Like, it's 272 00:15:09,360 --> 00:15:12,320 Speaker 1: very possible that that I have not only my mom 273 00:15:12,440 --> 00:15:17,600 Speaker 1: cells floating around, but my brothers and my daughters. Which 274 00:15:17,640 --> 00:15:19,800 Speaker 1: is fine, I mean, obviously it's all working out. But 275 00:15:19,920 --> 00:15:22,320 Speaker 1: with your daughter, I mean obviously there's a stronger connective. 276 00:15:22,320 --> 00:15:24,760 Speaker 1: But you're you've discussed before how you and your brother 277 00:15:24,760 --> 00:15:29,200 Speaker 1: are kind of different organisms, right, I mean you're rather different. Well, yeah, 278 00:15:29,240 --> 00:15:31,600 Speaker 1: of course we're different in many ways. But it is 279 00:15:31,640 --> 00:15:33,760 Speaker 1: kind of interesting to me as at the second born. 280 00:15:33,800 --> 00:15:37,360 Speaker 1: It's always like, man, seriously, you always get like, you know, 281 00:15:38,200 --> 00:15:42,800 Speaker 1: second banana hand me down cells, right, thanks a lot. 282 00:15:43,400 --> 00:15:46,480 Speaker 1: Uh No, twins, of course, identical twins can also exchange 283 00:15:46,720 --> 00:15:49,880 Speaker 1: micro comeric cells through the sheriff of sentence, so us 284 00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:53,280 Speaker 1: I don't think anything that's shocking, especially since we've already 285 00:15:53,280 --> 00:15:56,720 Speaker 1: stablished they can merge together into one organism. Yeah, you know, 286 00:15:57,200 --> 00:15:59,480 Speaker 1: I don't put anything past them, exactly. You gotta watch 287 00:15:59,480 --> 00:16:01,480 Speaker 1: out for the twins. They'll do it before you're born. 288 00:16:01,600 --> 00:16:03,520 Speaker 1: If there are any twins out there listening, don't do 289 00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:06,040 Speaker 1: it later. So much hard to absorb each other or 290 00:16:06,040 --> 00:16:08,960 Speaker 1: across cells. Absorb each other or across cells. I mean, 291 00:16:09,000 --> 00:16:10,640 Speaker 1: both are a little more difficult and a little more 292 00:16:10,640 --> 00:16:12,840 Speaker 1: problematic if you do it as adults. It's true outside 293 00:16:12,880 --> 00:16:15,840 Speaker 1: the womb, that is, there's a menial logistics there. Um. 294 00:16:15,960 --> 00:16:18,920 Speaker 1: So here's some also interesting thing. There's evidence for competition 295 00:16:19,040 --> 00:16:24,200 Speaker 1: between cells from from grandmother in infant within the mother. Yeah. 296 00:16:24,280 --> 00:16:26,720 Speaker 1: So that's where it gets a little dicey, and that's 297 00:16:26,760 --> 00:16:29,920 Speaker 1: when we start to talk about autoimmune issues. Yeah, because 298 00:16:30,400 --> 00:16:32,520 Speaker 1: we have. One of the problems with the autoimmune situation 299 00:16:32,760 --> 00:16:36,000 Speaker 1: is that there's the theory is that you have essentially 300 00:16:36,040 --> 00:16:38,920 Speaker 1: alien cells in the body. In the immune system detects 301 00:16:38,920 --> 00:16:41,520 Speaker 1: alien cells, they're going to fight against them in the 302 00:16:41,560 --> 00:16:44,160 Speaker 1: same way that they would have destroyed a number of 303 00:16:44,200 --> 00:16:48,200 Speaker 1: them immediately following the birth of the child. So you 304 00:16:48,280 --> 00:16:51,680 Speaker 1: get that, you know, the problem of an autoimmune defense 305 00:16:51,800 --> 00:16:55,240 Speaker 1: network attacking the body itself and all the complications that 306 00:16:55,320 --> 00:16:59,120 Speaker 1: arise from that. Yeah, I mean because some autommune diseases, 307 00:16:59,120 --> 00:17:01,400 Speaker 1: which current women three times more than in men, are 308 00:17:01,640 --> 00:17:03,840 Speaker 1: thought to be associated with this problem, right, this sort 309 00:17:03,840 --> 00:17:07,560 Speaker 1: of they're not assimilating, right, um, the Civil War in 310 00:17:07,600 --> 00:17:09,959 Speaker 1: the Yeah, they're trying to figure out like why are 311 00:17:10,000 --> 00:17:12,840 Speaker 1: you here? Should you be here? Um? And that's when 312 00:17:12,880 --> 00:17:15,919 Speaker 1: you see sort of things like multiple multiple sclorious as 313 00:17:15,960 --> 00:17:20,919 Speaker 1: being exacerbated by this issue of fetal cells. Now, the 314 00:17:21,119 --> 00:17:25,359 Speaker 1: good news is that, um, these fetal cells can kind 315 00:17:25,359 --> 00:17:29,000 Speaker 1: of act like stem cells depending on where they are, Uh, 316 00:17:29,040 --> 00:17:32,840 Speaker 1: they can actually help to repair damage tissue. And they're 317 00:17:32,920 --> 00:17:37,560 Speaker 1: essentially a transplant of younger, healthier cells in depleted organs, 318 00:17:37,640 --> 00:17:41,440 Speaker 1: So they might help protect against certain types of cancer. 319 00:17:41,680 --> 00:17:44,359 Speaker 1: So women with breast cancer, for instance, they generally have 320 00:17:44,600 --> 00:17:48,600 Speaker 1: lower levels of microclimerrism than women who don't develop disease, 321 00:17:48,640 --> 00:17:51,320 Speaker 1: and the suggests a possible role for fetal cells and 322 00:17:51,400 --> 00:17:54,920 Speaker 1: helping to detect and destroy tumors because if you think 323 00:17:54,960 --> 00:17:58,640 Speaker 1: about it, uh, those microclimeric cells from a pregnancy, they're 324 00:17:58,640 --> 00:18:02,560 Speaker 1: recognized by the mom's immune system is belonging to the 325 00:18:02,640 --> 00:18:07,320 Speaker 1: mother since they're genetically half identical to the mother, so 326 00:18:07,320 --> 00:18:10,440 Speaker 1: they get a pass. So they're they're sort of foreign 327 00:18:10,480 --> 00:18:13,280 Speaker 1: to the immune system, but you know, because of the 328 00:18:13,320 --> 00:18:16,600 Speaker 1: father's contribution. But they also this is the idea, they 329 00:18:16,600 --> 00:18:19,320 Speaker 1: may prime the immune system to be alert for cells 330 00:18:19,320 --> 00:18:22,720 Speaker 1: that are similar to the self but with genetic differences. 331 00:18:22,760 --> 00:18:26,159 Speaker 1: So the idea is that having the presence of microchlimeric 332 00:18:26,200 --> 00:18:29,840 Speaker 1: cells and the body could kind of ferret out cancer 333 00:18:29,880 --> 00:18:33,240 Speaker 1: cells and then stem the growth of any tumors. Sort 334 00:18:33,240 --> 00:18:35,200 Speaker 1: of like, hey, we're on the alert for you, but 335 00:18:35,440 --> 00:18:38,159 Speaker 1: we're also and you're fine, you get a pass, but 336 00:18:38,240 --> 00:18:43,080 Speaker 1: these other guys they're not passing the test. So sometimes 337 00:18:43,119 --> 00:18:45,720 Speaker 1: hand me down. That stuff is really good stuff. That's 338 00:18:45,760 --> 00:18:48,160 Speaker 1: the thing. Sometimes you can really make something out of it. Yeah, 339 00:18:48,240 --> 00:18:50,680 Speaker 1: I mean, it's really cool and Nancy shoot, you had 340 00:18:50,760 --> 00:18:53,720 Speaker 1: mentioned before in her Beyond Birth article says that fetal 341 00:18:53,760 --> 00:18:55,760 Speaker 1: cells also appeared to migrate to injury sites and have 342 00:18:55,800 --> 00:18:58,800 Speaker 1: been found in patients with thyroid and liver damage where 343 00:18:58,840 --> 00:19:03,680 Speaker 1: they had morphed into organ cells. Wow, so like you can, Yeah, 344 00:19:03,720 --> 00:19:05,679 Speaker 1: you can, on a very soular level, you can get 345 00:19:05,720 --> 00:19:09,360 Speaker 1: into this idea that my daughter is healing me, my 346 00:19:09,359 --> 00:19:12,440 Speaker 1: my my son is healing my body well. And it's 347 00:19:12,440 --> 00:19:14,400 Speaker 1: interesting that you say that because there was one account 348 00:19:14,440 --> 00:19:16,800 Speaker 1: I can't remember which article, but one of them had 349 00:19:16,800 --> 00:19:19,000 Speaker 1: said that there was someone who was going through cancer 350 00:19:19,040 --> 00:19:21,840 Speaker 1: treatments and they kept that in mind. My son is 351 00:19:21,840 --> 00:19:24,800 Speaker 1: helping to heal me through this. His cells are combating 352 00:19:25,320 --> 00:19:28,560 Speaker 1: the cancer cells. And yes, there's a bit of magical 353 00:19:28,600 --> 00:19:31,639 Speaker 1: thinking to that, but it's sort of lovely. Yeah, just 354 00:19:31,760 --> 00:19:34,800 Speaker 1: don't let it fill into like full on cannibalism, because 355 00:19:35,200 --> 00:19:37,520 Speaker 1: I'd be like, I'm feeling at they're on a little 356 00:19:37,600 --> 00:19:40,600 Speaker 1: thick here. But I bet if I ate the kid's arm, 357 00:19:40,720 --> 00:19:48,359 Speaker 1: then I maybe get a replenishment. It won't work. Messy defects. Okay. Yeah, Um, 358 00:19:48,480 --> 00:19:51,200 Speaker 1: so of course we have to to start thinking about 359 00:19:51,240 --> 00:19:53,399 Speaker 1: this in a future sense and One of the ways 360 00:19:53,440 --> 00:19:57,560 Speaker 1: that researchers and scientists are is to actually look at dogs, 361 00:19:58,000 --> 00:20:00,960 Speaker 1: because it turns out microchimerism is present in some dogs, 362 00:20:01,320 --> 00:20:04,359 Speaker 1: and now makes setting the condition a lot easier because 363 00:20:04,359 --> 00:20:07,439 Speaker 1: you're talking about lifespans ten to twenty years as opposed 364 00:20:07,480 --> 00:20:10,679 Speaker 1: to seventy eighty years. So they begin to kind of 365 00:20:10,720 --> 00:20:14,000 Speaker 1: look at what that might mean, um, to have these 366 00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:18,520 Speaker 1: cells acting like stem cells, or even acting against the museum, 367 00:20:18,640 --> 00:20:22,520 Speaker 1: acting against museums, acting about against the immune system, and 368 00:20:22,560 --> 00:20:25,480 Speaker 1: then how does this affect the world of human cloning. Well, 369 00:20:25,480 --> 00:20:28,680 Speaker 1: it's not as straightforward as we thought, right, yeah, because 370 00:20:28,680 --> 00:20:30,560 Speaker 1: it's it's one thing. Because again, we we have this 371 00:20:31,119 --> 00:20:33,280 Speaker 1: this notion that we get in our heads that that 372 00:20:33,480 --> 00:20:35,680 Speaker 1: I am this one product and if you distole me 373 00:20:35,760 --> 00:20:38,479 Speaker 1: down on these cells, on this DNA, on this person, 374 00:20:38,880 --> 00:20:41,760 Speaker 1: and then if we can just recreate that data, then 375 00:20:41,840 --> 00:20:45,480 Speaker 1: we can recreate, at least in a bodily sense, we 376 00:20:45,520 --> 00:20:48,760 Speaker 1: can recreate ourselves. But now you're having to take into account. 377 00:20:48,760 --> 00:20:51,600 Speaker 1: I mean, we've discussed, um, you know, all the microbes 378 00:20:51,600 --> 00:20:52,960 Speaker 1: that live inside us, and now we have to take 379 00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:57,199 Speaker 1: into account different cellular communities from other individuals that make 380 00:20:57,280 --> 00:20:59,679 Speaker 1: up who we are, how do you replicate that in 381 00:20:59,720 --> 00:21:04,399 Speaker 1: a awning scenario? Right, and not to mention the microbiota 382 00:21:04,640 --> 00:21:08,760 Speaker 1: that exists within everyone that is also again influencing how 383 00:21:08,800 --> 00:21:11,400 Speaker 1: we moved through the world and what sort of diseases 384 00:21:11,440 --> 00:21:15,560 Speaker 1: we may or may not get. Also have the genetics, right, Yeah, Well, 385 00:21:15,560 --> 00:21:18,119 Speaker 1: it's like with with cloning. It's um it reminds me 386 00:21:18,160 --> 00:21:20,840 Speaker 1: of the movie The Boys from Brazil based on the book, 387 00:21:21,320 --> 00:21:24,480 Speaker 1: where you had a plot to clone Hitler and it's 388 00:21:24,840 --> 00:21:27,359 Speaker 1: the plot really has a has some fun with the 389 00:21:27,400 --> 00:21:29,679 Speaker 1: idea of well, you would have to not only have 390 00:21:29,760 --> 00:21:33,160 Speaker 1: a genetic duplicate, you would have to then recreate all 391 00:21:33,160 --> 00:21:37,159 Speaker 1: the circumstances that made that person who they were. And 392 00:21:36,680 --> 00:21:39,720 Speaker 1: uh in the film sort of operates on the idea that, well, 393 00:21:39,760 --> 00:21:42,040 Speaker 1: the genetic side is simple to genetic side is just 394 00:21:42,040 --> 00:21:45,080 Speaker 1: pretty straightforward. But it's that conditioning that's where the problem lies. 395 00:21:45,520 --> 00:21:48,120 Speaker 1: But we're saying more and more that the genetic side 396 00:21:48,119 --> 00:21:52,119 Speaker 1: of things, the cellular side of things is almost equally 397 00:21:52,240 --> 00:21:56,120 Speaker 1: complicated if you were actually trying to replicate an individual. Right, 398 00:21:56,160 --> 00:21:58,800 Speaker 1: So this idea that we're just unique and we're just 399 00:21:58,840 --> 00:22:03,240 Speaker 1: sort of preset with this program at birth, it's following 400 00:22:03,280 --> 00:22:05,720 Speaker 1: away away, because now we all realize that we really 401 00:22:05,760 --> 00:22:09,640 Speaker 1: truly are chimeras. Yeah, an innocence kind of ephemeral, I mean, 402 00:22:10,040 --> 00:22:13,280 Speaker 1: rather ephemeral. Yeah, all right, I just checked my pocket 403 00:22:13,280 --> 00:22:15,399 Speaker 1: of flesh and mom says it's time to wrap it up. Okay, 404 00:22:15,480 --> 00:22:18,560 Speaker 1: all right, well, uh well pocket of flesh mom, or 405 00:22:18,640 --> 00:22:21,600 Speaker 1: we will call it an episode then. But we'd love 406 00:22:21,680 --> 00:22:24,120 Speaker 1: to hear from all of you guys and gals out there. 407 00:22:24,160 --> 00:22:26,479 Speaker 1: What do you think about this information? Um? How does 408 00:22:26,520 --> 00:22:31,120 Speaker 1: it make you think about your relationships with with your parents, 409 00:22:31,280 --> 00:22:35,600 Speaker 1: with your children, with strangers, you know, sibling, your sibling, 410 00:22:35,640 --> 00:22:37,679 Speaker 1: you know? How does it make you feel that your older, 411 00:22:37,760 --> 00:22:40,520 Speaker 1: younger brother maybe a part of who you are on 412 00:22:40,520 --> 00:22:42,639 Speaker 1: a solar level? Does that creep you out? Or does 413 00:22:42,680 --> 00:22:44,879 Speaker 1: it give you hope? I don't know? And then how 414 00:22:44,920 --> 00:22:46,960 Speaker 1: do you and then you know, to what extent do 415 00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:51,920 Speaker 1: you draw thin magical interpretations of this into your indual world? 416 00:22:51,960 --> 00:22:53,600 Speaker 1: Few we'd love to hear from you. You You can find 417 00:22:53,640 --> 00:22:55,560 Speaker 1: us in all the normal places Stuff to blow your 418 00:22:55,560 --> 00:22:57,520 Speaker 1: mind dot com. That's the mothership, that's where we put 419 00:22:57,560 --> 00:22:59,280 Speaker 1: all of our stuff. You can also find us on 420 00:22:59,320 --> 00:23:01,520 Speaker 1: Facebook and find us on tumbler we're stuff be blow 421 00:23:01,560 --> 00:23:03,439 Speaker 1: be Mind, and both of those. We are blow the 422 00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:06,480 Speaker 1: Mind on Twitter and on YouTube we are Mind Stuff 423 00:23:06,520 --> 00:23:09,320 Speaker 1: Show and you can always drop us a line at 424 00:23:09,359 --> 00:23:16,760 Speaker 1: blow the Mind at Discovery dot com. For more on 425 00:23:16,800 --> 00:23:19,280 Speaker 1: this and thousands of other topics, Is it how stuff 426 00:23:19,280 --> 00:23:25,600 Speaker 1: Works dot com