When scientists sequenced theย Neanderthal genomeย in 2010, they learned that Neanderthalsย interbredย with human ancestors before mysteriously going extinct.
This genetic breakthrough yielded powerful new information about the evolutionary history of Neanderthals andย Homo sapiens, but it also raised a new question: Could we bring backย Neanderthals?
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“That is one of the most unethical things I can possibly think of to attempt โ full stop,”ย [said] Jennifer Raff, a biological anthropologist at the University of Kansas ….
“You can’t just put a Neanderthal genome in a human egg,” Raff said. “It just wouldn’t work.”
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One issue with this process is potential immune system incompatibility, which is often what dooms cross-species pregnancies, as the host uterus rejects the fetus.ย
With today’sย CRISPRย technology … it is possible to modify a human cell’s genome to make it more similar to a Neanderthal’s. That’s what Colossal did when itย modified a handful of genes in gray wolvesย to make them look more like dire wolves. But those weren’t actually dire wolves, just like aย Homo sapiensย with a handful of Neanderthal genes wouldn’t be a Neanderthal.
