Resurrecting Neanderthals: The scientific challenge and ethical debate

When scientists sequenced the Neanderthal genome in 2010, they learned that Neanderthals interbred with human ancestors before mysteriously going extinct.

This genetic breakthrough yielded powerful new information about the evolutionary history of Neanderthals and Homo sapiens, but it also raised a new question: Could we bring back Neanderthals?

…

“That is one of the most unethical things I can possibly think of to attempt — full stop,” [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.”

Related on the SLP

Advances in genetic research enhancing our understanding of human evolution Did Interbreeding with humans give dwindling Neanderthals new lease on life?

Viewpoint: 4 very real AI doomsday scenarios

After Idaho criminalized abortion providers in 2022, one-third of obstetricians fled. Health care advocates are making rural health the case for repealing the ban

Anti-GMO activists in Pakistan rev up their campaign of dire warnings

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. 

With today’s CRISPR 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 it modified a handful of genes in gray wolves to make them look more like dire wolves. But those weren’t actually dire wolves, just like a Homo sapiens with a handful of Neanderthal genes wouldn’t be a Neanderthal.

This is an excerpt. Read the original post here