Chimera

15-09-2021
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Chimera, in genetics, an organism or tissue that contains at least two different sets of DNA, most often originating from the fusion of as many different zygotes (fertilized eggs). The term is derived from the Chimera of Greek mythology, a fire-breathing monster that was part lion, part goat, and part dragon. UCSF Chimera is a program for the interactive visualization and analysis of molecular structures and related data, including density maps, trajectories, and sequence alignments. It is available free of charge for noncommercial use.

The term genetic chimera has been used at least since the 1944 article of Belgovskii. An animal chimera is a single organism that is composed of two or more different populations of genetically distinct cells that originated from different zygotes involved in sexual reproduction.

Aug 11, 2019 A chimera is an organism with genetic material from two or more sources. Experiments in the field may save lives but are ethically controversial. A chimera is an individual whose body is composed of cells that are genetically distinct, as if they are from different individuals – and sometimes they really are from different individuals.

Chimera Investment Corporation (NYSE: CIM) is an internally managed Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT), founded in 2007 and headquartered in New York City. Our business objective is to provide attractive risk-adjusted returns to our shareholders over the long-term, predominantly through dividends and preservation of capital. We have $3.6 billion in total capital consisting of both common and preferred stock. Since inception, we have declared $5.3 billion common and preferred stock dividends.


Investment Strategy

We seek to maintain a diversified investment portfolio focusing on investing in residential mortgage loans, Non-Agency and Agency residential mortgage backed securities (RMBS) and Agency commercial mortgage backed securities (CMBS).
Our income is generated primarily by the difference, or net spread, between the income we earn on our assets and our financing and hedging costs. We are commonly referred to as a hybrid mortgage REIT because we invest in both non-Agency and Agency mortgage assets. This model provides flexibility in portfolio asset allocation and liability management.

Our Portfolio

Residential Mortgage Loans: A significant part of our business and growth strategy is to engage in securitization transactions to finance the acquisition of residential mortgage loans. In those securitizations we retain the subordinate RMBS, which typically receive interest income but no principal until the securities senior to them are paid off. This helps mitigate reinvestment risk as principal may not be received for several years after the loan collateral is securitized.

Non-Agency RMBS: We invest in both investment grade and non-investment grade Non-Agency RMBS issued by third parties. We believe this portfolio will provide high risk-adjusted returns over the long-term.

Agency RMBS: We invest in RMBS issued or guaranteed by Ginnie Mae, Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac (Agency RMBS). These securities provide dual portfolio functions by providing both spread income and a source of liquidity for the company.

Agency CMBS: The Agency CMBS we acquire are primarily Ginnie Mae Construction Loan and Ginnie Mae Permanent Loan Certificates. These assets typically have prepayment protection. The borrowers on the underlying mortgage loan generally are required to pay a prepayment penalty if they prepay during the first 10-years of the loan. This prepayment protection generally makes these assets longer duration and thus easier to hedge interest rate risk compared to Agency RMBS.

Funding Strategy

We borrow money, or use leverage, to finance the acquisition of mortgage assets and enhance potential returns on our investment portfolio. We use several funding sources to finance our investments including asset securitization, repurchase agreements (repo), warehouse lines, convertible debt and equity capital.

A key element to our funding strategy is securitization which provides long-term stable financing and structural leverage to potentially enhance returns and mitigate risk. In our securitizations, we generally create senior and subordinate notes. The senior bonds are sold to a third party and we retain the subordinate bonds which include the first-loss bonds that are usually subject to the risk retention rules. In most securitizations, we retain a call option, which, depending on market conditions, we may exercise to liquidate the original securitization trust, receive the remaining collateral and securitize the remaining collateral in a new securitization to reduce the related financing costs or to increase the structural leverage.


Example Securitization*


*A significant portion of the RMBS we acquire through securitization is subject to the U.S. credit risk retention rules which materially limit our ability to sell or hedge such investments as needed, which may require us to hold investments that we may otherwise desire to sell during times of severe market disruption in the mortgage, housing or related sectors, such as those being experienced now as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.

chimera

[ki-me´rah

Chimera Painter

]
an organism whose body contains different cell populations derived from different zygotes of the same or different species, occurring spontaneously or produced artificially.
Miller-Keane Encyclopedia and Dictionary of Medicine, Nursing, and Allied Health, Seventh Edition. © 2003 by Saunders, an imprint of Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved.

chi·me·ra

(kī-mēr'ă, ki-),
1. In experimental embryology, the individual produced by grafting an embryonic part of one animal onto the embryo of another, either of the same or of another species.
2. An organism that has received a transplant of genetically and immunologically different tissue, such as bone marrow.
3. Dizygotic twins that exchange immunologically distinct types of erythrocytes.
4. A protein fusion in which two different proteins are linked through peptide bonds; usually genetically engineered. Chimeric antibodies may have the Fab fragment from one species fused with the Fc fragment from another.
5. Any macromolecule fusion formed by two or more macromolecules from different species or from different genes.
[L. Chimaera, G. Chimaira, mythic monster (lit. a she-goat)]

chimera

also

chimaera

(kī-mîr′ə, kĭ-)n.1.
a. An organism, organ, or part consisting of two or more tissues of different genetic composition, produced as a result of organ transplant, grafting, or genetic engineering.
b. A gene or protein consisting of parts from two different genes or proteins that are normally distinct, sometimes derived from two different species.
2. An individual who has received a transplant of genetically and immunologically different tissue.
The American Heritage® Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2007, 2004 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

chimera

Any individual organism or molecule derived from 2 or more species.
Embryology
An organism that results when an embryonic part of one organism is grafted onto another.
Genetics
An organism with 2 or more cell lines, genotypes or karyotypes descended from at least 2 zygotes. Chimeras are very rare, only occur in twins and result from chorionic vascular anastomoses, transplantations or double fertilisations and subsequent participation of both fertilised meiotic products in one developing embryo; all hermaphrodites should be karyotyped to evaluate possible chimerism.
Molecular biology
(1) An animal formed from two different embryonic sources. In mouse genetics, targeted mutations produced in embryonic stem cells are recovered by breeding chimeric mice, resulting from the mixture of embryonic stem cells with a genetically distinct blastocyst.
(2) A clone containing genomic DNA from nonadjacent genomic segments or cDNA from two different mRNAs.
TransplantationChimera
The term chimera was once used for a person who had received transplanted tissue—e.g., bone marrow surviving in a recipient.
Segen's Medical Dictionary. © 2012 Farlex, Inc. All rights reserved.

chi·me·ra

(kī-mēr'ă)
1. The individual produced by grafting an embryonic part of one animal onto the embryo of another, either of the same or of another species.
2. An organism that has received a transplant of genetically and immunologically different tissue, such as bone marrow.
3. Dizygotic twins that have immunologically distinct types of erythrocytes.
4. A protein fusion in which two different proteins, usually from different species, are linked through peptide bonds; usually genetically engineered. Chimeric antibodies may have the Fab fragment from one species fused with the Fc fragment from another.
5. Any macromolecule fusion formed by two or more macromolecules from different species or from different genes.
[L. Chimaera, G. Chimaira, mythic monster (lit. a she-goat)]
Medical Dictionary for the Health Professions and Nursing © Farlex 2012

chimera

An organism that contains a mixture of genetically different cells derived from more than one ZYGOTE. A chimera may, for instance, occur as a result of fertilization by more than one spermatozoon; fusion of two zygotes; an ALLOGENEIC bone marrow graft; cell exchange between dizygotic twin fetuses; or combination of portions of embryos of different species. Compare MOSAICISM. The term derives from the name of a mythical monster with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail.
Collins Dictionary of Medicine © Robert M. Youngson 2004, 2005

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