There is due cause for revulsion and concern when it comes to food-security and integrity—and I don’t think that this strange phenomena is polluting clinical studies but it is something to consider when one has everything under the microscope and genetic makeup is something writ-large like a rancher’s brand—but Nature periodically orchestrates a very elaborate waltz between genomes, in ways not fully understood though more and more bizarre examples are being discovered.
In a process called
horizontal gene transfer, DNA chimeras have been lurking unseen for eons, with volumes of genetic information inserted among very different animals—complete sections so that one can identify the host’s donor. This practice is standard procedure for bacteria but biologists did not think such exchanges were possible for complex organisms. Although there’s no means to test the hypothesis yet, one idea is non-discriminating parasite, like ticks and fleas, have helped facilitating these series of incorporations. It’s also unclear how these out-of-context sequences assist the animal, or are they merely hitchhiking, like the parasite that might have introduced this spice to accustom itself to a new taste.
