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Semi-Identical Twins Discovered

daftna writes in with a story from Nature about a pair of twins who are neither identical nor fraternal: they are semi-identical. Researchers discovered twins who share all of their mother's DNA but only half of their father's. Both children are chimeras — their cells are not genetically uniform, but include a mix of genes from two separate sperm cells that fertilized a single egg. This is, apparently, not as rare as one might think; but the resulting fetus is rarely viable. This report marks the first known incidence of two half-identical twins resulting from a double fertilization.

14 of 224 comments (clear)

  1. Sounds like mom was a busy girl. by alcmaeon · · Score: 5, Funny

    Subject says it all.

    1. Re:Sounds like mom was a busy girl. by maxume · · Score: 5, Funny

      Problems with your sperm count? (lots of guys have more than, ya know, one. Harr).

      --
      Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
    2. Re:Sounds like mom was a busy girl. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Inconceivable!

  2. DUP!! by dustball23 · · Score: 5, Funny

    This story was already posted!! Oh, no, wait...

    1. Re: DUP!! by Black+Parrot · · Score: 5, Funny

      We don't get dupes, we get semi-identical posts.

      --
      Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
    2. Re: DUP!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      We don't get duplicates, we get semi-identical posts.

  3. They need a different term besides "Chimera" by The-Bus · · Score: 5, Funny

    I understand it's mythologically correct to use the term "chimera" but whenever I hear it I always envision something else: a ghastly soulless beast with an iron heart, breathing fire out of a cavernous tooth-lined maw, crushing entire houses under gigantic feathered elephant legs; a scaled, whiplike tail kicks up ashy dust clouds as its dragged for miles behind this monstrocity.

    No matter how many times I hear the biological equivalent of the term (which is never as exciting) I'm always let down. I always think some giant monster has been discovered, or someone turned into this monster, or geneticists have new clues as to the cause of this monster.

    It's a bit annoying once I'm letdown but for a precious few seconds I'm always aghast in wonder.

    --

    Small potatoes make the steak look bigger.

  4. No more jokes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Well that should cock up the old joke about the blonde who gave birth to twins and wanted to know who the father of the other one was.

  5. No problem by EmbeddedJanitor · · Score: 5, Funny
    Problems with your sperm count?

    No I can count up to five, even with one hand busy!

    --
    Engineering is the art of compromise.
    1. Re:No problem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Five? Pathetic. I can do up to 31!

  6. Re:Discovery Health "I'm my own twin" by Starburnt · · Score: 5, Funny

    More importantly, Slashdotters may now be able to reproduce.

    That could be of Biblical proportions.

  7. Re:wow, that must be embarassing by The+One+and+Only · · Score: 5, Funny

    Maybe some women should try for this to achieve notoriety and advance the cause of science...

    And the plot for the next gang-bang porno suddenly comes into view.

    --
    In Repressive Burma, it's not just your connection that dies. slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=314547&cid=20819199
  8. Re:Evil Twin! by ajlitt · · Score: 2, Funny

    Is that also the gene for compulsive goatee growing?

  9. Re:On intersexuality by Knux · · Score: 2, Funny

    First of all, as a disclaimer, I'm not intersexual myself, but I'm interested in inter- and transsexuality

    You mean like watching bizzar porn hu?
    Pervert...