Genetic chimerism in fiction

Human genetic chimerism, which can not only cause a wide range of illnesses but also lead to the same person having more than one profile in genetic fingerprinting, has served as a plot device in many works of fiction. Most known examples are subsequent to the 2004 book Free Culture,^[1] where author Lawrence Lessig digresses briefly to describe chimerism and suggest that it could, and had yet to, be well used as a television plot device (particularly for police procedurals involving genetic fingerprinting).

In Kathy Reichs' novel, Spider Bones, after an incorrect identification of a deceased Vietnam soldier, Dr. Brennan discovers that his mother was a chimera, explaining why their DNA did not match.
The CSI: Crime Scene Investigation episode "Bloodlines" involves a man who rapes a woman and is identified by her, but the DNA from his semen doesn't match to the DNA from his saliva because he is a chimera.
In the House episode "Cane and Able", a boy who believes he was abducted by aliens is diagnosed with chimerism.
In an episode of The Office, Dwight Schrute says that he resorbed his twin brother while in his mother's womb. He also says that he now has "the strength of a grown man and a little baby".
A November 2006 episode of the ABC soap opera All My Children revealed that the testing of a young character's DNA did not turn up a match with her mother, Annie, because the character of Annie is a chimera.
One of the subplots in Michael Crichton's 2006 novel Next deals with chimerism.
In season three of the TV series Regenesis, a girl accused of murder is found not guilty when DNA from her blood does not match the DNA found on the victim. She is later proven to be the killer when DNA from her saliva is shown to match that at the scene of the crime. The discrepancy between her blood and saliva is explained by her being a chimera.
In the PlayStation 3 games Resistance: Fall of Man and its sequel Resistance 2, by Insomniac Games, the monsters were referred to as Chimera due to their combination of human and alien DNA.
A March 2008 Radio Lab episode explored the case of a human chimera.^[2]
In the 30 Rock episode "MILF Island", the character Liz Lemon says that she used to have deformed baby foot which was thought to be the result of her eating her twin while her mother, Margaret Lemon, was pregnant.
In the Stephen King novel "The Dark Half" Thad Beaumont the main character suffers from intense migraine headaches as a child. When on the operating table, his doctors find a human eye, ear and part of a nose growing inside Thad's skull, which was the cause of his headaches. The doctors explained this as Thad having absorbed his twin prior to birth.
In the TV Series "Dark Angel" the Chimera theme was used with the main character, Max, having feline DNA.
The 1991 Anglia TV (UK) drama Chimera centered on the creation/consequences of a human/ape Chimera.
In the Anime TV series Fullmetal Alchemist there are multiple references, and appearances, of beings referred to as chimera.
In the Anime TV series Slayers one of the main characters, Zelgadiss Graywords, was turned into a chimera consisting of his human self, a rock golem, and a type of demon, obtaining odd-colored and extremely hard hair and skin, and greater physical and magical power. He spends a great amount of time travelling the world in order to find a way to become human again and stop being shunned as a monster.
In Mother 3, most of the enemies and monsters are chimeras, the most noteworthy being the "Ultimate Chimera". The "Ultimate Chimera" also appeared on the "New Pork City" stage in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
Chimeras appear frequently in the Thursday Next science fiction novels written by Jasper Fforde. They are the result of home genetic engineering kits.
In the ebook The Chimera Chronicles: The Future of Change, Dr. Cambio may have extended his life and that of his wife's by combining their DNA with another long-lived animal. ^[3]
Vonda McIntyre's novella Screwtop (1976) features a genetically engineered "tetraparental" (four parents) character who has black-and-fair streaked skin, as well as black-and-blond streaked hair.
John Tait's medical novella Frankenrabbits (2011) deals with the disastrous creation of human-rabbit hybrids, where society is unable to fathom whether to accept them as people or animals.

Genetic chimerism in fiction

References