a thoughtful web.
Good ideas and conversation. No ads, no tracking.   Login or Take a Tour!
comment by mk
mk  ·  4092 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: DNA Double Take

This is fascinating stuff. I've done research where we've used Y-chromosome to detect the presence of transplanted cells in female rodents. We assumed that using male donors would give us a sure-fire way of detecting transplanted cells. I guess we were wrong.

    In 2012, Canadian scientists performed autopsies on the brains of 59 women. They found neurons with Y chromosomes in 63 percent of them. The neurons likely developed from cells originating in their sons.

Did they? I wonder if these women were asked about previous pregnancies. I also wonder how the y-chromosome was detected. In situ-hybridization is typically the standard, and it is extremely easy to get false positives.