Some of your cells are not genetically yours — what can they tell us about life and death?

Way, Sing Sing

2 min read Original article ↗
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A tiny population of cells that are passed across the placenta between mother and baby challenge basic tenets of human immunology.

By

  1. Sing Sing Way

    1. Sing Sing Way is an infectious-disease paediatrician at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Med-ical Center, Ohio.

Top shot of a group of happy children lying in a circle with their heads together, all covered in coloured powder for Holi.

People carry populations of cells from their biological relatives. Credit: Getty

Hidden Guests: Migrating Cells and How the New Science of Microchimerism is Redefining Human Identity Lise Barnéoud, transl. Bronwyn Haslam Greystone Books (2025)

Nature 649, 21-22 (2026)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-04102-4

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Competing Interests

The author declares no competing interests.

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