Which term describes an organism whose body contains a mixture of cells, some with a foreign gene and some without?

Which term describes an organism whose body contains a mixture of cells, some with a foreign gene and some without?

• A. Chimera
• B. Homozygote
• C. Mutant
• D. Transgenic

Answer: (A)

A chimera is an organism whose body contains a mixture of cells from different zygotes, so some cells carry a foreign gene while others do not. This happens when cells from another embryo or a population of genetically modified cells are incorporated into a developing organism, creating tissue-wide genetic mosaicism. Because not all cells share the same genotype, the organism shows a blend of cell populations rather than a uniform genetic makeup. This distinguishes it from being simply transgenic, where the foreign gene is present in the organism’s genome as a whole; if every cell carried the gene, it would be transgenic. The other terms don’t describe this mixture of distinct cell lineages within one body.

A chimera is an organism whose body contains a mixture of cells from different zygotes, so some cells carry a foreign gene while others do not. This happens when cells from another embryo or a population of genetically modified cells are incorporated into a developing organism, creating tissue-wide genetic mosaicism. Because not all cells share the same genotype, the organism shows a blend of cell populations rather than a uniform genetic makeup. This distinguishes it from being simply transgenic, where the foreign gene is present in the organism’s genome as a whole; if every cell carried the gene, it would be transgenic. The other terms don’t describe this mixture of distinct cell lineages within one body.