Hidden Guests: Migrating Cells and How the New Science of Microchimerism Is Redefining Human Identity

"[A] fascinating book. . . . [Barnéoud] ruminates on how microchimerism might change our understanding of ourselves."-Sam Kean, Wall Street JournalWhat if some of your cells were not your own?What if they once belonged to someone else?Part mind-bending medical mystery-part cutting-edge science-Hidden Guests uncovers the astonishing phenomenon of microchimerism: the presence of foreign cells inside our own bodies.The incredible story of how those cells got there-and what they do once they arrive-might change everything we know about the immune system, lineage, and identity. We are all told the same story as children: that we grew from a single cell into a human, that all of our cells came from the first fertilized egg, and that we have one distinct genetic code.But scientists are beginning to challenge that story. The discovery of microchimerism shows that not all our cells are our own-some of them migrated from other bodies.How did they get there? Scientists are still studying their jo