Doctors in California have removed a tumor that they described as an "embryologic twin" from deep inside the brain of a woman:
Yamini Karanam, 26, a PhD student in Indiana, had been experiencing difficulties with drowsiness, reading and concentration. The discovery was made when doctors performed a newly-developed form of surgery to remove the tumour. The growth, known as a teratoma[*], had bone and hair.
[...] Some medical experts have questioned whether it could be called a twin, but the doctor told the BBC it was "accurate, technically speaking" to call it an embryologic twin. He added that she would have died if she hadn't had the surgery.
The rare growth was removed using a minimally-invasive "keyhole" surgery that uses fibre-optics to burrow deep into the brain and perform the operation. "Traditionally they would have had to cut her from ear-to-ear, bring the scalp down in the back, and then open up the entire back of the skull," Dr Shahinian said. Instead, the doctor used a half-inch incision in the back of the skull.
[*] Teratoma:
A teratoma is a tumor with tissue or organ components resembling normal derivatives of more than one germ layer. Although the teratoma may be monodermal or polydermal, its cells may differentiate in ways suggesting other germ layers. The tissues of a teratoma, although normal in themselves, may be quite different from surrounding tissues and may be highly disparate; teratomas have been reported to contain hair, teeth, bone and, very rarely, more complex organs or processes such as eyes, torso, and hands, feet, or other limbs.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Sunday April 26 2015, @05:40PM
It's sobering to be a surviving twin. It would really be a downer to know that you just "absorbed" your twin. A little bit like cannibalism? "Oh yeah, I was a twin, but I absorbed him/her before we were even born. He/she was taking to much nutrition, so I did away with my twin."
Yeah, I know, crazy thoughts. Don't even give it a thought.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Gravis on Sunday April 26 2015, @05:47PM
It's sobering to be a surviving twin. It would really be a downer to know that you just "absorbed" your twin.
you should have read the article.
"I was asked if I had any emotions for the 'twin' or something like that, but I'm like 'No!'" she said. "I really don't have any feelings attached to it."
fun fact: by definition you are an ignoramus. :P
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Sunday April 26 2015, @06:04PM
Fun fact: Not everyone reacts the same to similar situations. My brother didn't survive infancy, and I can't even say that I knew him. But, I miss him all the same. Just think - there could have been TWO assholes like me for you to vent on!
I suppose that a person who didn't even know that there WAS a twin might not have any emotional attachment. Or - she may not be willing to share that attachment with a bunch of jerks looking for a story line.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 26 2015, @07:36PM
What do you expect? Women gleefully kill their own babies, castrate men, have men imprisoned, divorce and steal men's life worth.
They are scum often.
(Score: 2) by JNCF on Monday April 27 2015, @04:29PM
Women gleefully kill their own babies, castrate men, have men imprisoned, divorce and steal men's life worth.
They are scum often.
SCUM? [wikipedia.org]
I only feed trolls bad puns.
(Score: 2) by danmars on Sunday April 26 2015, @06:43PM
Will her twin now come back and kill a bunch of people?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 26 2015, @09:11PM
Now she can attribute all those crazy thoughts to that "alien" in her who gave her ideas to act on. The authorities should check to see if she may be responsible for crimes in the area.
There was an episode on X-Files, where a parasite twin leaves the host to kill people and then re-attaches itself to the host after the killing session. But later it gets eaten. ;)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 26 2015, @09:28PM
Is this considered an abortion?
(Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Sunday April 26 2015, @10:06PM
No.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 26 2015, @10:54PM
It sounds to me like it was done with an advanced coat hanger. Generally, the pulling of an embryo out of a human body using a long, thin piece of material is considered an abortion.
(Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Sunday April 26 2015, @11:01PM
This was not a developing human embryo inside a womb. This is a failed embryo that was absorbed into its twin. It is not life.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 27 2015, @02:17AM
Only in US red states.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 26 2015, @09:32PM
Tetragametic chimerism [wikipedia.org]
The part about marmosets is very interesting.
.
I heard a story about a guy who knew he had a fraternal twin as part of his body.
When the cops wanted a blood sample to compare against some forensic evidence they had, he had them stick the needle in where they got blood from his twin.
I don't recall if that was real-life or fiction.
-- gewg_
(Score: 1) by btendrich on Monday April 27 2015, @12:32PM
My father had a stem cell (bone marrow) transplant as treatment for CLL. His blood is now genetically identical to the blood of his donor, while the rest of him maintains it's original DNA. It's kind of neat, except that his new immune system is constantly trying to kill him (graft vs. host disease, think of rejecting a transplanted organ, except it's the immune system that's been transplanted and it's trying to kill off your entire body).
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 27 2015, @02:14PM
I don't recall if that was real-life or fiction.
I don't know your example specifically, but it is very similar to an episode of the TV show CSI. In that episode there was a serial rapist, a woman identified him (and identified a car license plate and a few other identifications). However a DNA test showed it was not a match. After much investigations and drama it turns out the person was a chimera, and the DNA in the person's mouth swab did not match the DNA in his blood.
You might have heard of a non-fiction equivalent (which may have even inspired the TV show), but I know there is a fictional account of what you describe.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 27 2015, @03:36PM
"Get out! Get out of my head!!!"
(Score: 2) by dast on Wednesday April 29 2015, @03:43PM
Pics or it didn't happen.