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The Real Monkey's Uncle
Marmoset monkeys sometimes father their twin brother's children with DNA they swapped as embryos.
Duration: 3 minutes, 19 seconds
Marmosets are almost always born as fraternal twins that share a common placenta. Cells exchanged during embryonic development make each sibling a "chimera" with a mixture of its own and its sibling's cells. DNA testing recently showed that about half of male marmosets also carry a mixture of sperm cells, so a marmoset baby can actually inherit its uncle's DNA from its own father.
"Germ-line Chimerism and Paternal Care in Marmosets (Cllithrix kuhlii)" by C.N. Ross, J.A. French, and G. Orti, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (volume 104), April 10, 2007, pages 6278-6282.
POSTED May 3, 2007
DNA Today Archives
From dinosaur DNA to monkey's uncles, we've stored previous episodes here.
- Maize (Corn) Genome Completed November 19, 2009
- 100 Years of Corn Research at CSHL November 19, 2009
- George Shull explains hybrid corn and heterosis November 6, 2009
- Jumping Gene Caught in the Act October 26, 2009
- 2009 Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology October 5, 2009
- Ardipithecus Ramidus (Ardi) Walked Upright October 5, 2009
- The Primate Fossil Ida – Science Review June 3, 2009
- The Neanderthal Genome Project May 21, 2009
- Genome Scans Pay OffMay 18, 2007
- No Escape for GM Pollen? May 10, 2007
- The Real Monkey's UncleMay 3, 2007
- BIG DOG, little dog April 25, 2007
- Dino Protein is for the Birds April 20, 2007
