During pregnancy, my partner would often excuse her hormonally induced behavior by saying “Sorry, the baby took over my brain.” Turns out there might be something to that. Scientists in Singapore, China, and Japan have conducted research on mice showing that fetal cells can migrate into the mother’s brain and develop into various nervous system cells. As a next step, the researchers hope to show that the immigrant fetal cells become functional neurons. They are also hoping to determine if this happens in humans as well, or “whether there are any behavioral or psychological implications.” Their ultimate goal is to find new ways of treating brain disorders, perhaps by using other sources of fetal cells, such as umbilical cord blood, to conduct non-invasive cell transplants.
For those of us mombians who donated eggs for our partners to carry, this raises the intriguing question, “Will she understand me any better now that part of my DNA is embedded in her brain?”