From chimera, a mythological creature with the head of a lion, the body of a goat and the tail of a serpent. An organism whose cells are not all derived from the same zygote.

1. Animal. An individual exhibiting two or more genotypes in patches derived from two or more embryos. An individual derived from two embryos by experimental intervention.

2. Plant. Part of a plant with a genetically different constitution as compared with other parts of the same plant. It may result from different zygotes that grow together, or from artificial fusion (grafting); it may either be periclinal chimera, in which one tissue lies over another as a glove fits a hand; mericlinal chimera, where the outer tissue does not completely cover the inner tissue; and sectoral chimera, in which the tissues lie side by side.

3. A recombinant DNA molecule that contains sequences from different organisms.