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I have read that a chimera is an organism with two or more sets of DNA, with every cell having one of the sets. Is it possible and common for the two or more sets to be present in the cells of a single organ? I'm confining my question to vertebrates because I don't remember much about the biology of invertebrates from high school, but please don't hesitate to add anything interesting about them.

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Chimerism (or genetic mosaicism if the cells come from the same zygote) is possible in the same organ or tissue. I don't think you will see a homogeneous distribution of the chimeric tissue because the tissue in any vertebrate organ is rarely homogeneous to begin with. Microchimerism may occur in a small number of cells. That's about all I know.

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    $\begingroup$ Could you add references to your answer? $\endgroup$
    – Rory M
    Commented Aug 29, 2012 at 20:30
  • $\begingroup$ @roryM, the links don't count? $\endgroup$
    – bobthejoe
    Commented Sep 6, 2012 at 0:56
  • $\begingroup$ @bobthejoe I read through them and couldn't find any reference for the chimerism can happen in the same organ/tissue point, plus the second is a wikipedia article, I'd rather see their references directly linked to. $\endgroup$
    – Rory M
    Commented Sep 6, 2012 at 10:29

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