Is It Real?: Chimera

By: Jeremi Klint Cotoner (Friday group 9:00-10:30)
Source File: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20060816181704AAHjvic


If you hear the word chimera the first thing you think of is a combination of any creature to a one twisted being, What if this so called abominations were real?, what would you do?, Or Where do you run to?


Yes, they do. For several reasons. There is a biological meaning of the word "chimera", which refers to an organism, organ or tissue made up of differing genetic traits obtained by transplant or grafting. If you have seen the movie, "Jurassic Park" you may recall that the "dinosaurs" produced were recreated by the injection of dinosaur DNA into hen's eggs (I think it was), along with DNA of other species, particularly the frog genus Rana. The geneticists forgot about the frogs' trick of changing sexes to even out the population, a trick the dinosaurs inherited from their batrachian "ancestors". That is why they were able to reproduce even though they were all created female to begin with. These dinosaurs were chimeras in the biological sense. 

The classic chimera was a mythological Greek monster which was part goat combined with a couple of other animals. It was, therefore, a "chimera'" in the biological sense as well. But the word "chimera" in Greek originally meant "a female goat" and we still have lots of them around even today.  

So, yes, there really are chimeras, though not in the mythological sense--or at least, I've never seen one. Maybe I just haven't been in the right place at the right time. Who knows for sure?


Credits to: jaxwizz on answers.yahoo.com