Chimeras are for Real!
We know that genetic changes are transmitted “vertically”, i.e., from parent to child. But can genes be transmitted “horizontally”, i.e., between two unrelated strangers? Even better (or creepier), can genes be transmitted “horizontally” across species ? Most of our myths, world over, have imagined such chimeras, by cutting and pasting parts of different species. Sometimes they are monsters: think of the half-bull, half-man Minotaur of the Greeks. Sometimes they are cute: think mermaids. At other times, they’re God’s way of finding a way around a boon granted to an evil rakshasa : think Narasimha avatar. Siddhartha Mukherjee, in his terrific book The Gene , says this question was explored in that “reliable barometer of American anxieties and fantasies – comic strips”! When a radioactive spider bit Peter Parker: “The spider’s mutant genes are transmitted to Parker’s body presumably by horizontal transfer… thus endowing Parker with “agile and proportionate strength of an arac...