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Stem Cells Change Man's DNA
An anonymous reader writes "After receiving umbilical cord stem cells to replace bone marrow as treatment for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, Greg Graves temporarily had three different sets of DNA. Eventually, one of the two sets of cells transplanted into his bone marrow took root, leaving him different DNA in his blood from the rest of his body: 'If you were to do a DNA test of my blood and one from my skin, they'd be different,' Graves said. 'It's a pretty wild thing.'"
Perhaps this is the beginning of the end for the use of DNA as "incontrovertable" evidence in criminal cases?
Mary from the trailor park once had 12 different sets of DNA inside her.
The football team won that night, everybody scored.
liqbase
Does this mean Mr. Graves is the world's first man-made chimera?
The "cue the foo posts in 3, 2, 1..." posts will commence with no subsequent foo posts in 3, 2, 1...
OK, maybe I've been watching too much CSI these days, but I wonder how this would affect DNA forensics? If a blood sample gives DNA that is identical to my brother or uncle or whatever, and my skin gives "my" DNA, how would the courts handle that?
It certainly demonstrates a case where DNA evidence does not, in fact, always point to the perpetrator.
The plural form of "anecdote" is "anecdotes", not "evidence".
1. Commit a crime
2. Shoot yourself up with stem cells
3. Don't get thrown in jail because the DNA from the crime scene doesn't match
4. Waitaminute... Profit belongs in step 1 in this case!
Now Britain is going to have to rebuild their DNA database.
Libertarian Leaning Political Discussion Forum.
Cool, but (with all due respect) I'm sure this money could be spent better. On malaria prevention for example.
Aphorisms don't fix code. (Bart Smaalders)
The story said that the stem cells were from an anonymous boy's birth. Hope somebody has the foresight to tell him and his parents, otherwise, things could get interesting if his DNA is found somewhere else (like a crime scene)
What are we going to do tonight Brain?
...because all I can think is how well this would work for spies and other undercover types.
"There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order." -Ed H
Like the title says. While this is an amazing break-through what will happen if this guy has offspring? Two completely different sets of DNA which will be dominant? Or will this cause some very "odd" cival cases when a two white people have for example a little asian baby?
What other possible side effects could happen?
Not to sound like a bible thumper but should we really be playing god with something we barely understand.
I think the IRS has ruled this would require filing 3 income tax forms.
doesn't a bone marrow transplant do a similar thing? in that case, your bone marrow has different DNA than the rest of your body, or really any transplant would be considered a man-made chimera...
Sigs are too short to say anything truly profound so read the above post instead.
2. Profit!
3. Inject Stem Cells
4. ????
5. Home Free
You constantly struggle for self improvement - and it shows.
Hooray for bad Engrish on fortune cookies
We've been doing bone marrow stem-cell transplants for years on people with hematopoietic neoplasms. In fact, we've been doing solid organ transplants for about 40 years. Of course they will have different DNA! In fact, even a normal person has different sets of DNA right now. This is most evident in germ cells, which undergo meiosis, and antibody-producing hematopoietic cells, which change their DNA to be able to make different antibodies to different antigens. So I don't see why this is news.
The procedure is called an Allogenic Stem Cell Transplant. The procedure has been in use for well over a decade, and it replaced the old Bone Marrow Transplant techniques that used to be used for conditions such as leukemia, various cancers, lymphoma, and other immune system disorders.
The only thing remarkable about this is the fact that the stem cells the man received were from cord blood instead of adult stem cells from a matched donor.
Wikipedia has an excellent article on the subject: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stem_cell_transplantation
The applicable section to this article reads as such:
"Umbilical cord blood is obtained when a mother donates her infant's umbilical cord and placenta after birth. Cord blood has a higher concentration of HSC (hematopoietic stem cells --ed.) than is normally found in adult blood. However, the small quantity of blood obtained from an umbilical cord (typically about 50 mL) makes it more suitable for transplantation into small children than into adults. Newer techniques using ex-vivo expansion of cord blood units or the use of two cord blood units from different donors are being explored to allow cord blood transplants to be used in adults."
I spent six months in Seattle as a caregiver for a patient undergoing this procedure. The work they do at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center there is second to none.
This is pretty much like a bone marrow transplant. The precursor cells that stay, win pretty much. In this case, your taking those precursor cells
import system.cool.Sig;
Lawyer: "This is not the DNA you are looking for."
Meh, a real sig would take too long, and I have an MMORPG to play with....
Stem cells change man's DNA? Someone should ask him if he's recently visited a secret underwater city.
in that episode, there was a man who cleverly attempted to avoid culpability in a murder because his blood was a different genotype than the rest of him, because he was a chimera. the csi team spends much time in vain trying to pin the murder on the murderer's brothers, because genetic tests indicate he is related to the "real" murderer
real but extremely rare, it developmentally consists of nonidentical twins in the womb whose embryos fuse very early on, when that is still possible (when they are only a couple of hundred cells, for example)
then the organism consists of one individual, but one organ system might be a completely different genetic makeup than another organism. so sombody's nervous system could be genetic code A, while his spleen could be genetic code B. chimeras can go through life having no idea what they are, but sometimes, you can see it on their skin (a subtle zebra striping)
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
Seems to me that the stem cells added new DNA material, it didn't mutate his existing DNA material.. so why use the word change?
"Thanks for all the money you paid to us. We've used it to buy off ISO among other things" -Microsoft
If your file can contain your name, along with all aliases that you used,
and your social security number, along with all the stolen numbers you've used,
then I'm sure they can find room, for a second set of DNA to be tied to you as well.
His blood has a different DNA makeup than other cell in his body--like his skin and hair. Which introduces a whole monkey wrench in indisputable DNA evidence. From the sounds of it a "bad" guy could change his genetic signature with the same sort of procedure. Not unlike that completely asinine movie "Faceoff" (which completely ignored that half of your face is your bone structure), but instead of how you look its how you DNA looks
This also begs the question of constitutes life. Are we just a mass of cells and who we are comes from those cells? If that were true then where does someone with two sets of DNA fit in the equation? Or is our body just a container for a life force that is immutable no matter how many sets of DNA your body has? Additionally, do you think that may Greg Graves' personality may change because of this additional DNA? I mean it's one thing to have someone else's organs in you, and whole other thing that your body starts pumping out new cells with different DNA. This is fantastic moral discussion and wonderful fodder for fiction. I've already developed a couple movie and book plots.
Badges!?! We don't need no stinking badges!
First of all, a bone marrow transplant is not currently something Joey Pants can do for you in his brooklyn apartment in 30 minutes just to change your DNA. And the cost and time in the procedure is far greater than simply shaving your body hair, washing down throughly to get dead skin off your body, and wearing thick tight clothes to keep you from shedding any DNA.
Second, there are plenty of documented cases of someone being a "Chimera" where they contain two sets of DNA in their body. It's usually when an embryo absorbs a twin in the womb. I don't know if there are any true cases out there in the books where a Chimera was tried for a case, but it's known. Science is well aware that DNA is not 100% foolproof, which is why you have probability matches when testing DNA normally. These will simply be bumps in the road and science will adapt. This is nothing new to DNA research. Most likely forensics labs will begin to require taking multiple samples from multiple areas depending on the DNA evidence found. If you left blood at the scene of the crime, why take DNA from your cheek if there's a chance the criminal is a Chimera or a bone marrow transplantee.
Third, the law will catch up with this. Defense attorneys will use this to create reasonable doubt, and prosecutors will counter to learn about this, while forensics keeps up with the latest scientific trends.
On the other hand, DNA identification methods for businesses will be completely fucked if someone gets a marrow transplant or is a Chimera and doesn't know it.
"All great wisdom is contained in .signature files"
Yeah someone stole my identity, they jammed a large metal needle in my arm and stole some bone marrow, four months later i see all these charges on my bank statement saying i spend 30,000 QUID on Mars last tuesday... WTF!!!!
Tsukasa: All I really want, is to be left alone...
'If you were to do a DNA test of my blood and one from my skin, they'd be different
Isn't this true of anyone who's had a transfusion?
.. and predicts radical law enforcement involvement in organ/tissue transplants, including logging, tracking, etc of donors and recipients. Organ Donor card? That's a sampling. Diagnosed with disease treatable with gene doping? Ditto. And that's just what I come up with in under five minutes. Imagine what a professional fascist could concoct. Cue the anti-tinfoil rants, but if even five percent of this comes about were screwed, screwed, screwed.
Faith: n. -- That human impulse that drives them to steal appliances when the power goes out
Ah, well. I guess now we know.
In a fair world, refrigerators would make electricity.
I am a pediatric blood and marrow transplant physician. After every successful bone marrow transplant (BMT), peripheral blood stem cell transplant (PBSCT), or umbilical cord blood transplant (UCBT) in which the donor is not the patient or an identical twin, the recipient becomes genetic chimera. The DNA in cells derived from the bone marrow stem cells is different from the DNA in the rest of the recipient's body.
As others have pointed out, this isn't anything new. Significant clinical use of BMT dates back to the 1970's. PBSCT and UCBT came into widespread use in the late 1980's and early 1990's.
My group performed a BMT on a patient with relapsed leukemia a few years ago. The patient unfortunately suffered liver and kidney damage as a result of the BMT. He had a liver transplanted from one donor and later a kidney from another donor. Fortunately, he recovered and has remained leukemia free. He is essentially back to being a normal kid, although he will need to take immunosuppressive mediations to prevent rejection indefinitely. That patient permanently has DNA from 4 different sources (bone marrow, liver, kidney, and his original genotype in all other parts of his body).
I think the responses so far are missing the OP's point.
I didn't read his post thinking, "OMG, no more DNA evidence within a few years!" I'm guessing he meant that eventually through the use of various technologies for various reasons, it will be possible for criminals to be genetically altered in such a way that making identifying them using DNA will be difficult. It may be 50 years, 100 years, or 200 years, but as we get better and better at munging up our DNA, it is possible.
Also, that totally neglects that at some point in the future, when the technology behind this kind of stuff becomes pervasive enough, high tech criminals may deliberately have their DNA altered for the specific purpose of thwarting identification.
Yes, he would be a chimera at least for the time being. He has multiple DNA sources in his body and since both types of DNA can be obtained through blood, he could show up as two separate individuals if DNA testing were performed.
The Lydia Fairchild story is an interesting read. It's rare but it does happen.
What this shows is that a true Chimera is possible mixing human and foreign DNAs. It's amazing that multiple DNA sequences can be supported by the body. Rejection becomes an issue but I'm curious if the body would be more accepting for foreign tissue if it's producing the tissue. The immune system obviously isn't designed to detect foreign DNA but the tissue the DNA is producing is foreign. I'm just curious how far this process can be taken before rejection becomes an problem?
So he has 3 different people's DNA in him, big whoop? I wonder how many people's DNA Anna Nichole Smith had in her at any given time.
Unlike T.V., in the real world most violent criminals are not terribly bright and are caught through far more stupid actions than those required on CSI.
If malware writers were really all that good, you'd never know you were infected. Its the same thing.
The problem with quotes on the internet, is that nobody bothers to check their veracity. -- Abraham Lincoln
in an episode of CSI Miami, IIRC. The perp volunteered a DNA swab of his cheek, knowing that a transplant had altered his blood, and there would therefore be no match to the crime scene evidence.
Enlightenment? It's just a flush in the pan.
You're really stretching for moral controversies, aren't you?
It's cute.
"The cup is in turn designed for holding hot or cold liquids, and has an open rim and closed base." --US Patent #5425497
TV has unfortunately glorified criminals to a certain extent. in the real world they are just stupid thugs without 2 brain cells to rub together, hence why our jails are so full.
If you mod me down, I will become more powerful than you can imagine....
I chose...Slashdot...
How long before I can go into a black market clinic and get a DNA swap or rather some DNA camo???
Sorry, don't have time to create an account. However, this is something that is seen fairly regularly in medical circles. When someone receives a bone marrow transplant, for example, the DNA of their blood is altered. Additionally, organs that are transplanted into people do not spontaneously change their DNA to match their new owner's. And while it sounds horrible and spooky, it really is not a disturbing or new phenomenom - despite its ties to stem cell research.
Basically, what I'm saying here is take a deep breath, people. Inhale the good air, exhale the paranoia.
I believe in doing everything scientifically possible to save a human being. However, consider the life-threatening genetic conditions that are passed on through offspring. Science has effectively stopped natural selection. The weak and dumb prevail. Soon we will be a human race depending on science rather then benefiting from it.
I am a young, naive and childless human. My views may one day change.
Hey baby! If I could be any enzyme, I'd choose RNA polymerase and unzip your genes.
I had 3 types of blood in me. So did a friend of mine. I think I know of about 20 people who had that happen. How is this news?
...into a fly?
Just because the stupid criminals are in jail doesn't mean that all criminals are stupid.
The smart criminals are sitting on the boards of large corporations, or holding office in D.C.
Fast forward 20 years - you have long since outgrown your reckless youth, are a responsible, caring member of society and as part of that you give blood and registered in the bone marrow database.
You're called - there's someone in another state that needs marrow, and you're a match! You're actually thrilled at the idea of being a part of saving a life. A young teenager needs your help. You know what it's like to be a teen who needs help.
Another 10 years pass and someone is murdered. Blood samples show not only the victim's blood, but the attacker's - she got in a few scratches before succumbing. They test the DNA, search the database, and BINGO - YOU'RE the match. You were on vacation in Barcelona, your wife swears its true. But hey, the expert says you have to be the guy, and so you get the death penalty for the vicious murder.
You could have gotten off with life in prison, but since you are so cold, so uncaring, so unwilling to show remorse for your crime, protesting your innocence all along, they show no mercy.
This space available.
Yes, and you're going to take them down with snide remarks on Slashdot. Fight the power, comrade.
Nah, they're going to take themselves down by refusing to educate themselves about that thing they want to legislate into usefulness (Teh Internetz) and keep getting caught fondling underage pages.
All I have to do is laugh.
I'm sorry, but as a fan of the movie Faceoff (what can I say, sometimes I like high-spectacle mindless action movies), I must report that they, in fact, did not ignore the issue of bone structure. When they mounted the badguy's face on the hero's skull, they did it on top of a plastic mold that they said was shaped like the badguy's bone structure.
(Not saying that this would work in the real world, just correcting the statement that the movie did not address this issue).
Knowledge != Intelligence
Scientist: I have combined the DNA of the world's most evil animals, to make the most evil creature of them all!
[He pours the liquid into a machine and it crackles and a door in it opens. A man emerges from the smoke.]
Man: It turns out it's Man.
[From http://www.imsdb.com/transcripts/Futurama-Spanish-Fry.html ]
This leads to heartbreaking legal situations. A mother applied for welfare benefits. When they did DNA testing to make sure the kids were hers, DNA testing showed half were not, and they took half her kids away. Her obstetrician and her husband testified under oath that they had observed the kids birth, but to the bureaucracy, DNA was incontrovertible. Years later, a doctor interested in chimerism noticed her case, took multiple DNA samples from many locations, and showed that she had 2 major and one minor DNA profile. The minor was her mother, the 2 major profiles were her and her fraternal sister. The embryos had merged, and half her eggs were one DNA and half her sisters (or vice versa - it's hard to say if it's her or her sister).
A winning athlete was accused of blood doping (blood transfusion before the competition to increase stamina) and lost his medal, despite medical testimony that he was a chimera, and had two types of bone marrow DNA, and hence two types of blood.
Not to mention all the recently outed gay GOP politicians
Did anybody else read the headline and think of Bioshock?
Reality is the original Rorschach.
I had no idea that red blood cells (or any cells, for that matter) did not nave nuclei. Thanks.