"現實生活的客邁拉"

在希臘神話裡，客邁拉是一隻有著獅頭、羊頭和蛇頭的生物，獅頭在前身、山羊在背上，而蛇在尾巴。牠會噴火，同時是古羅馬和希臘旅人的夢魘。但這個字在現代詞彙中指「嵌合體」，即指真實生活中，和神話裡的客邁拉一樣，在一個身體中確實同時存在兩個（或是更多）生物的人！懷孕期間會有兩種可能的雙胞胎類型。一種是單一受精卵分裂成兩個（稱之為同卵雙胞），而另外一種則是兩顆個別受精的卵（稱之為異卵雙胞）。在十分罕見的案例情況中，其中一個異卵雙胞會「吸收」另一個，導致一個人的身體裡面有著兩組細胞、DNA、賀爾蒙和其他生物元素。嵌合體最常見於動物世界之中，然而人類的嵌合體在現代的醫學科技中也曾經有過紀錄。

對話範例：

(人類客邁拉) Paula和Andy是一對情侶。Paula和Andy講述她的朋友正在遭受的考驗。來聽聽看他們的對話吧。

Paula: 你不會相信Joanne最近發現了什麼！

Andy: 是什麼？

Paula: 她是個嵌合體！

Andy: 客邁拉？她看起來不像有獅頭或是有尾巴的。

Paula: 不，傻瓜！是兩個人存在一個身體裡面！她有兩組DNA！

Andy: 哇，真瘋狂。她怎麼發現的呢？

Paula: 她之前替她的孩子驗DNA，但他們的DNA和她的不符。之後她又再驗了一次，結果卻是另外一組DNA。第三次的測試顯示她有兩組DNA。一個真實生活中的客邁拉！

Andy: 哇，那非常罕見。所以，她肯定也是她自己的雙胞囉！

(Health) Real-Life Chimeras

In Greek mythology, the Chimera was a creature that had the head of a lion, a goat, and a snake, with the lion in the front, the goat on the back, and the snake at the tail.It would breathe fire and was the terror of travelers of ancient Rome and Greece. But, the modern term Chimera is used to refer to real-life people who, like the mythological Chimera, are actually two (or more) beings in one body!During pregnancy, there can be two possible types of twins. One is a single fertilized egg splitting into two (called identical twins) and the other is two eggs fertilized separately (called fraternal twins). In very rare cases, one of the fraternal twins will absorb the other, resulting in a human being with two sets of cells, DNA, hormones, and other biological elements.Chimeras are mostly seen in the animal world, though human Chimeras have been recorded in modern medical science.

Dialogue Example:

(Human Chimera)Paula and Andy are a couple. Paula is telling Andy about an ordeal her friend is going through. Let's listen to their conversation.

Paula: You won't believe what Joanne just found out!

Andy: What's that

Paula: She's a Chimera!

Andy: A Chimera? She doesn't look like she has a lion's head, or a tail, either.

Paula: No, silly! Like, two people in one! She has two sets of DNA!

Andy: Woah, crazy. How did she find that out

Paula: She was getting DNA testing for her children, and they didn't match hers. Then she got tested again, and it was a different set of DNA. A third test showed she had two sets of DNA. A real-life Chimera!

Andy: Wow, that's extremely rare. So, she must be her own twin, then, too!

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