At least 1 in 8 of us is carrying around the cells of a twin we consumed in utero
I know, it's a lot to digest.
As many as 12 percent of us actually started out as two cells in utero. But long before our would-be sibling could even grow a limb, we went all Cain and Abel on it. The cells took root somewhere in our developing body instead and grew into human tissue. Foreign human cells have been found in kidneys, livers, and the brain. And it's not just siblings either. Mothers have consumed the stem cells of their would-be children as well.
This rather unsettling news comes from a massive paper called, "Humans As Superorganisms," which David Wallace-Wells helpfully unpacks in New York magazine.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
And to put this phenomenon — which scientists have creepily named the "parasitic" or "vanishing" twin — into context, Wallace-Wells leads with a mind-blowing, real-life tale that goes something like this:
Protective services threatened to take away a woman's three children when a maternity test revealed she wasn't the mother. This was most shocking to the woman since she conceived and delivered all three of these babies. This woman eventually discovered the true biological mother of her children was in fact (wait for it) her unborn twin!
Unbeknownst to this woman, or even her parents, she consumed the cells of the human embryo she was sharing the womb with all those decades ago and those cells developed into the eggs that produced those children. How's that for some family drama?
If you'd like to hear more about the unborn sibling you didn't know existed, as well as the other interesting and surprising facts that I learned this week, listen to this episode of "This week I learned" below. And, if you like what you hear, you can subscribe to The Week's podcasts on iTunes, SoundCloud, and Stitcher. —Lauren Hansen
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Lauren Hansen produces The Week’s podcasts and videos and edits the photo blog, Captured. She also manages the production of the magazine's iPad app. A graduate of Kenyon College and Northwestern University, she previously worked at the BBC and Frontline. She knows a thing or two about pretty pictures and cute puppies, both of which she tweets about @mylaurenhansen.
-
Kemi Badenoch's 'policy void'
Talking Point Conservative leader must convince voters the party has more to offer than the 'same old magic beans'
By The Week UK Published
-
Should Los Angeles rebuild its fire-prone neighbourhoods?
Talking Point The latest devastating wildfires must be a wake-up call for Los Angels to 'move away from fire-prone suburban sprawl'
By The Week UK Published
-
Sudoku hard: January 26, 2025
The Week's daily hard sudoku puzzle
By The Week Staff Published
-
Honda and Nissan in merger talks
Speed Read The companies are currently Japan's second and third-biggest automakers, respectively
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Taylor Swift wraps up record-shattering Eras tour
Speed Read The pop star finally ended her long-running tour in Vancouver, Canada
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Drake claims illegal boosting, defamation
Speed Read The rapper accused Universal Music of boosting Kendrick Lamar's diss track and said UMG allowed him to be falsely accused of pedophilia
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
'Wicked' and 'Gladiator II' ignite holiday box office
Speed Read The combination of the two movies revitalized a struggling box office
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Jussie Smollet conviction overturned on appeal
Speed Read The Illinois Supreme Court overturned the actor's conviction on charges of staging a racist and homophobic attack against himself in 2019
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Quincy Jones, music icon, is dead at 91
Speed Read The legendary producer is perhaps best known as the architect behind Michael Jackson's 'Thriller'
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
OJ Simpson, star athlete tried for murder, dead at 76
Speed Read The former football hero and murder suspect lost his battle with cancer
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Momofuku's 'Chili Crunch' trademark uproar
Speed Read The company's attempt to own the sole rights has prompted backlash
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published