Ova Gone Wild!

Kerry Howley | March 26, 2007

According to Nature, we're experiencing a decline of family values at the gamete level:

Researchers have discovered a pair of twins who are identical through their mother's side, but share only half their genes on their father's side.

The 'semi-identical' twins are the result of two sperm cells fusing with a single egg — a previously unreported way for twins to come about, say the team that made the finding. The twins are chimaeras, meaning that their cells are not genetically uniform. Each sperm has contributed genes to each child.

Could our "hook-up culture" have led anywhere else? Blame gay marriage!