Taylor Muhl was born with the abdomen in two colors, half of which was normal, while the other was redder. She never knew what was the cause for such a different skin color, she thought it was just a birthmark. Only in adulthood will she find out what it was.
In 2009, during a visit to the doctor, Taylor found shocking news: not only did her skin on her abdomen have two colors, but she also had two different immune systems and two bloodstreams! At first, she was not diagnosed with any disease because the doctors had no idea what they had seen. But a week later Muhl went to another specialist.
He assumed that Taylor had a rare genetic disease called Chimerism. This disease basically means that an individual is composed of two or more different genetic cells that originate in different zygotes. In other words, she absorbed her twin, or twins, while she was still in her mother’s womb…
Even though there are only 100 known cases of Chimerism, Taylor’s case is unique in an even more special way: while most people with this disease have only internal symptoms, it also has external symptoms. She later found out that on one side of her body she was allergic to some metals, while on the other side of her body she was not allergic to those metals!
Usually, people find out that they have this disease only if they do blood DNA tests, however, there are some cases in which women have had custody of their children because DNA tests showed that they were not their mothers! This disease gives the women in question two, or more, sets of DNA!
Chimera is another proof of how unpredictable nature is!