HermanTheKid

I'm a geneticist in the Dept. of Neurological Surgery at a major research institution. I just wanted to plug the Acoustic Neuroma Association. I'll be at their meeting in August collecting DNA samples from people as we begin phase 1 of a study to identify genetic causes of these tumors (specifically, in people without NF2 mutations). If anyone has an acoustic neuroma (vestibular schwannoma) and would like to participate, I can provide you with my data manager's contact at Yale.

edit: Took a break from work to check Reddit, and now I'm using Reddit to work. Here's a bit more info about the project, and thanks so much for helping this to get seen!

My former adviser, Dr. Elizabeth Claus, is running a study about the genetic and environmental risk factors for acoustic neuroma/vestibular schwannoma with support from the ANA. Dr. Claus is an epidemiologist at Yale and a practicing neurosurgeon at Brigham and Women's/Harvard.

We are gearing up to open the online survey about environmental exposures, dietary history, etc. next month at the ANA conference in LA. We will also be collecting saliva specimens to perform genetic research (my area of expertise). If you have an acoustic neuroma and would like to get an email when the survey opens up so that you can participate, please send an email to:

[email protected]

Include in the subject line "please add me to the AN survey list". I'll warn her to expect some emails.

Here's a bit more info about our study (hosted on the ANA website). http://www.anausa.org/index.php/symposium/yale-university-study

They had to settle an investigation by the DOJ under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act a few years back.

This isn't as much of a red flag as the other items you list. I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a multi-national company listed in the S&P 500 that hasn't been investigated under this act. I may be in the minority here, but I'm not too troubled by any of the charges laid against Diageo under the FCPA: http://www.fcpablog.com/blog/2011/7/28/diageo-pays-164-million-in-sec-settlement.html

That means they were friends for 16 years before Good Will Hunting (it's been 19 years since Good Will Hunting was released).

No, what causes the condition to be visible is that during early embryogenesis a progenitor cell acquired a somatic alteration (mutation) that was then passed down to all its daughter cells in a lineage-specific manner - following the Blaschko's lines.

This phenomenon is an example of mosaicism. This is not an example of chimerism, because that would require two independent sets of DNA at the start - as opposed to a mutation occurring in a later stage of development.

Please at least confirm for me that you see the difference between mosaicism and chimerism. All chimerism is a form of mosaicism. Not all mosaicism is chimerism. The OP has mosaicism, but not chimerism.

On a humorous side-note, I've now had to talk to my wife to make sure I'm not going crazy. Although I am a geneticist (PhD), she is a dermatologist (MD). We both have reviewed this comment and approve the accuracy of its content.

*edit: Maybe Blaschko's lines for LWNH, but certainly some neuroectodermal lineage. Definitely Blaschko for progressive cribriform and zosteriform hyperpigmentation (PCZH). They're probably the same disorder.

Mosaicism is any time the genomes of different cells within an organism do notmatch . So, cancer is a form of mosaicism because the tumor genome has departed from the original host genome.

Chimerism is when two or more cells in the same organism do not match (mosaicism) for the specific reason that two distinct organisms, each with its own unique genome, have merged into one organism.

Yes, mosaicism indicates a greater likelihood of chimerism. But there are lots of ways to have mosaicism without chimerism. And yes, chimerism almost always causes mosaicism unless the organisms that fused were unicellular at the time of fusion and create some new polyploid cell.