Re: Chimera

It seems to me, it wouldn't have been awfully hard for the person who
started this thread, to have done some reading about human
development and about hypotheses concerning gender identity and
its development in particular people. Before posting here.

Gender identity is a deep and complex topic. I recall coming across
an apparent male who as near as I could tell, had no personal
perception of his gender identity. And I know that for some people,
self gender identity perception is very strong. I have not seen the
'chimera' hypothesis published in the literature. Since the thread
initiator thinks there is some connection, what would that
connection be? How would it work to produce the observed (or
postulated) result?

So if there are some lately-originated, research-based hypotheses
around about origin and development of gender identity, I'd like to
hear them.

Cheers -- Martha Adams [sci.med 2007 Apr 25]


<bae@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:2007Apr24.191056.9149@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
In article <pamq239m9ttm5qp9v28bfrif7fe79ob2de@xxxxxxx>,
Terry <Kilowatt@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
You hear stories everyday about someone living as one sex, but feeling
like they belong to the other.

These people are called transsexuals.

From what I understand, which is little, a chimera potentially
contains the recipe for both sexes. It can also cause someone to have
two different sets of DNA.

How much could this explain someone wanting a sex change?

Chimeric mice were created by fusing mouse embryos as much as forty
years
ago, and even the ones resulting from fusing male and female embryos
end up an apparently normal one sex or the other anatomically,
functionally and behaviourally.

Since DNA testing for paternity has become available, a surprising
number of people have been shown to be natural chimeras. These people
are apparently no more likely to be intersexes or transsexuals than
anyone else.

Intersexes are people whose genitalia are intermediate in character
between male and female to varying extent. This condition can be due
to genetic or environmental influences prenatally. Since there are
developmental difference between the brains of male and female
mammals,
possibly transsexuality is related to intersexuality. Transsexuals
often report that they have felt like they are in the wrong gender
of body from their earliest memories on. Genetically their bodies
are exactly the gender they appear to be.

You have an interesting idea there, but the evidence is against it.


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