A Neanderthal surrogate is wanted to bring back the Neanderthal genome. On Jan. 21, NBC News reported that pioneering Harvard geneticist George Church thinks that there will be a Neanderthal baby in his lifetime. He says that an "extremely adventurous female human" would be the perfect fit to carry the embryo.
"Church is serious about the promise of synthetic biology, which involves tinkering with the chemical components of DNA to add artificial twists to the code of life," NBC News reports. Church believes that bringing back a Neanderthal would thus bring back the Neanderthal brain -- something that he feels could be very useful in the future of the world.
While the "Neanderthal surrogate wanted" headline is somewhat of a joke, Church is very serious about the possibilities that this could offer. Cloning and genetic engineering could be the way of the future and could ultimately put an end to diseases (like cancer). But that is a big "could." Church also talks about the using the brain of the Neanderthal and suggests that their knowledge could end up being life-saving.
"Neanderthals might think differently than we do. We know that they had a larger cranial size. They could even be more intelligent than us. When the time comes to deal with an epidemic or getting off the planet or whatever, it's conceivable that their way of thinking could be beneficial," explained Church.
So, a Neanderthal surrogate is wanted (hypothetically). Do you think any woman would volunteer for such a thing?
© Effie Orfanides 2013
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