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Subject to change.

Short Description
Name: Jo-Anne Michaels
Gender: Female
Age: 23
Birthday: March 16
Religion: Agnostic
Height: 5’3”
Weight: 145
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Green, large.
Face: Pox scars (two) under left eye. Several pimple scars. Oval face.
Skin: Pale olive.
Body: Pear-shaped (weight in thighs)

History:
Pending

How Does Your Character Get to the Island?
Pending

Which Animal Serum do You Want?
The Dragonbird, also known as the Green Peafowl, was chosen for her.

Why This Animal for Your Character?
Moreau wanted to inject her with an animal that would bear obviously male appearances (the feathers) if the targeted half of her DNA (male) reacted positively to the serum.

Why Was She Selected?
The fact that she is a rare case of Heterogametic Chimera (she was born with male and female DNA), and a hermaphrodite because of it, was the reason she was selected for the island. This opened up a slew of scientific possibilities for Moreau. Will a serum affect only part of her DNA? Which half? If only half of the DNA changes, how much of her will remain human and how much will change? Will she even change outwardly at all? ((Note that it would change her completely like any other character, these were just "scientific" speculations))

Chimera Info

Chimera

Tetragametic chimerism is a less common cause of congenital chimerism. It occurs through the fertilization of two ova by two sperm, followed by the fusion of the zygotes and the development of an organism with intermingled cell lines. This happens at a very early stage of development, such as that of the blastocyst. Such an organism is called a tetragametic chimera as it is formed from four gametes — two eggs and two sperm. Put another way, the chimera is formed from the merger of two fraternal twins in a very early (zygote or blastocyst) phase. As such, they can be male, female, or hermaphroditic.
As the organism develops, the resulting chimera can come to possess organs that have different sets of chromosomes. For example, the chimera may have a liver composed of cells with one set of chromosomes and have a kidney composed of cells with a second set of chromosomes. This has occurred in humans, though it is considered 'extremely' rare.

Affected persons are identified by the finding of two populations of red cells or, if the zygotes are of opposite sex, ambiguous genitalia and hermaphroditism alone or in combination; such persons sometimes also have patchy skin, hair, or eye pigmentation (heterochromia). If the blastocysts are of the same sex, it can only be detected through DNA testing, although this is a rare procedure. Thus the phenomenon may be more common than currently believed. If the blastocysts are of opposite sex, genitals of both sexes are formed, either ovary and testis, or combined ovotestes, in one rare form of intersexuality, a condition previously known as true hermaphroditism. As of 2003, there were about 30-40 human cases in the literature, according to New Scientist.[1]

Natural chimeras are almost always not detected unless the offspring has abnormalities such as male/female or hermaphrodite characteristics or skin discoloring. The most noticeable are some male tortoiseshell cats or animals with ambiguous sex organs or behavioural abnormalities such as confused gender behaviour (where female cells made the brain but male cells made the genitals or vice versa). Recent studies of tortoiseshell male cats and unusually coloured tortoiseshell-like cats suggest that natural chimerism is far more common than previously realised and that it frequently goes undetected.
Chimerism can be detected in DNA testing. The Lydia Fairchild case, for example, was brought to court after DNA testing showed that her children could not be hers, since DNA did not match. The charge against her was dismissed when it became clear that Lydia was a chimera, with the matching DNA being found in her cervical tissue. Another case was that of Karen Keegan.

The tetragametic state has important implications for organ or stem-cell transplantation. Chimeras typically have immunologic tolerance to both cell lines. Thus, for a tetragametic human, a wider array of relatives and other persons may be eligible to be organ donors.


Those people who have two types of DNA in their body are called chimeras after the mythological creature with a head of lion, body of a goat and a tail of a serpent. These people are sometimes also referred to as mosaics. It has found that these people have two different types of DNA in various parts of their body. Though a rare occurrence, this could have been due to various reasons. [Vladar, 2004]

One of the common reasons is that chimeras are formed if developing fraternal twin embryos join together to become one embryo. This is something which is completely opposite of identical twins who are formed when a single embryo splits into two. This occurrence takes place in the very early stages of the embryo development i.e. when it is still in the form of unspecialized cells, so when it develops the baby that is born is healthy but with two types of DNAs. It is also found that fraternal twins don’t have same set of DNA, however, they the two fraternal twin embryos fuse together it results in chimera. [Migliore, L et al, 1999]

With the increase in the cases of chimeras and mosaics owing to various reasons, it has been found out that there might be an increase in the complications which might occur while administering drugs. This becomes difficult due to people’s individual genetic constitutions. Two genetically different tissues in one body might produce an unpredictable response to a drug, speculates Roland Wolf, who studies pharmacogenetics at the University of Dundee, UK. "It's completely unknown. [Author unknown, Genetic Chimeras, human genetics, 2004]


True chimeras are usually identified when they possess male and female cells resulting in the formation of hermaphrodites or any related problem in the person’s sexual organs and their chromosomal sex is identified by their blood test. So the real number of chimeras and mosaics are much more than those that have been identified till date. Unless and until a chimera comes forward to get his blood sampled or has been convicted for a crime, it wouldn’t be possible to know whether he actually is a chimera. This has resulted in further complication in solving some crime justice cases.
It has been also analyzed that with the increase in in-vitro fertilization (IVF), there has an increase in the cases of chimeras. To avoid infertility among women, IVF has been quite common in the present day scenario. In this process, two or more embryos are placed in a woman’s uterus so there is an increased success rate. This results in 25% more cases of twin pregnancies than expected. With the increased number of twins, there is likelihood of more cases of chimeras. This was proved by Bonthron who found out that the British hermaphrodite boy who was a chimera was formed by IVF. Strain, L; Dean, J C S; Hamilton, M P R and Bonthron, D T – 1998]


According to the New England Journal of Medicine, vol 338, p 166, physicians in the Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, Scotland have reported on a child with a p***s, one testicle, and an ovary and fallopian tube instead of a second testicle. Some of this child's body cells are XY (male), and some are XX (female). The child was conceived as the result of in-vitro fertilization, and it appears most likely that two embryos, a male embryo and a female embryo, fused before or soon after embryos were transferred to the mother's uterus.
This kind of condition, where there is more than one set of cell lines with different sets of chromosomes making up the body is known as chimerism. This kind of tetraploid chimerism can also occur naturally, without in-vitro fertilization [11].


Definition of 'Hermaphrodite' - a person biologically between female and male, sometimes with genital and /or reproductive body parts of both sexes. A person who is born with both male and female genitals although one set is almost always incompletely developed. When a person is born with the genital or reproductive organs of both sexes. It is a rare condition.

Quest Status

Pure:
15k
Items:
None
Donations:
None

Reserved in case of need

Its quite a nifty idea using a hermaphrodite, but you might have to get a transgender serum as well. You might want to ask an offical "tech" about it on the main forum if you haven't already. And, for all I know, it could already have been done.

As for your character, Its hard to make a history for a character we don't know much about, so you may want to make a general idea before asking for suggestions for the history.