Of Monsters and Monkeys: Queering the Study of Genetic Chimerism in Primates

Scientific research is a political enterprise, and is therefore susceptible to cultural biases. With its central role in understanding humans as a species, primatology is particularly vulnerable to this dynamic, requiring researchers to carefully assess both the influences shaping their work and the implications of their results. Here, I engage in this practice by critically examining the study of chimerism in callitrichid primates, a prominent model taxon in studies of human health and evolution. Chimerism, which refers to cells derived from two or more zygotic lineages within a single organism, is a defining feature of callitrichid biology. Chimerism also challenges the boundaries by which many biological categories are defined. Using the lens of queer monster theory, I investigate the relationship between the study of callitrichid chimerism and the conceptualization of callitrichid and human bodies, with particular attention to the role of "queer" sex and reproduction. I first discuss the origins of chimerism within biological discourse, showing how the biological chimera inherited "unnatural" connotations that continue to shape scientific research. I then examine how similar monster-making practices surface in studies of callitrichids, arguing that patterns of omission and claims of exceptionalism serve to manage chimerism as a categorical threat. Finally, I explore the promises that callitrichid chimeras present as monstrous informants. I show that callitrichid chimeras can be used not only to expose the cultural boundary-work structuring sex and reproduction, but to invite research practices that treat categorical deviation not as abnormal, but as evidence that these categories must be changed.