There's more here.
Mind-blowing as this finding may be, little is still known about this phenomenon. The development, mechanism, function and evolution of this process is just beginning to be explored. But it already raises a whole range of questions: can we measure a difference between mother’s and “non-mother’s” brains, both structurally and functionally? Does this “fetomaternal microchimerism” lead to any advantages (i.e. survival) in mothers? What is the range of variation in this kind of expression: are there “good” and “bad” fetuses? Are mothers of many children better off in any respect of those with fewer children? Or is this process just a question of striking the energy balance, the child “paying back” what it deprived the mother of during pregnancy?Learn more about chimerism here.
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Apparently for a while they've known about fetal cells in human mother's blood. Now they know they cross the blood brain barrier in mice. It's weird but also not so weird. The inverse "money quote" is this one from the abstract (summary): "further studies are required to determine whether such engraftment of the maternal brain has any physiological or pathophysiological functional significance"
There's a like weirdness in genetics called "epigenetics," including "imprinting" and gene "silencing." We set ourselves up for weirdness by believing our own simple stories. The PhDs of a decade or two later will be wondering how anybody ever thought the new phenomenon weird and resent having to learn the story.
Actually, pretend I called it the (intellectual) "poverty quote." It's a term whose time has come, and I'm not leaving 'til I've coined it.
For me, the weirdness came more in the research methodology--glowing green mouse cells crossing the blood brain barrier. Very sci-fi.
Ah. That's old fluorescent hat in the world I come from, but how you take me back. Yes...yes...I do remember when cloning green glowing jelly fish proteins into mice seemed cool and exotic. Now it's done by assembly line, I imagine.
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