June 18, 2013

Scientist: I'm NOT seeking a mom for a Neanderthal

BY: AP Staff Writer JANUARY 22, 2013 | MODIFIED: JANUARY 22, 2013 AT 6:02 PM
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Photo -   FILE - In this Oct. 20, 2008 file photo, Harvard Medical School genetics professor George Church poses for a photo with DNA sequence data for Dr. John Halamka, chief information officer, following a news conference in Boston. Church says reports that made him sound like he was searching for a woman to bear a Neanderthal baby are based on misunderstandings of an interview he gave the German magazine Der Spiegel. Church said the idea of bringing back Neanderthals gets brief mention as a theoretical possibility in his recent book, "Regenesis: How Synthetic Biology Will Reinvent Nature and Ourselves.’’ (AP Photo/Lisa Poole, File)
FILE - In this Oct. 20, 2008 file photo, Harvard Medical School genetics professor George Church poses for a photo with DNA sequence data for Dr. John Halamka, chief information officer, following a news conference in Boston. Church says reports that made him sound like he was searching for a woman to bear a Neanderthal baby are based on misunderstandings of an interview he gave the German magazine Der Spiegel. Church said the idea of bringing back Neanderthals gets brief mention as a theoretical possibility in his recent book, "Regenesis: How Synthetic Biology Will Reinvent Nature and Ourselves.’’ (AP Photo/Lisa Poole, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — A prominent genetics expert from Harvard Medical School says he is not looking for a woman to bear a Neanderthal baby. Not even an adventurous one.

Some press reports in the past few days suggest Harvard's George Church is supporting the idea of creating a Neanderthal and even looking for an "adventurous" woman for the project.

Church says those reports are based on misunderstandings of an interview he gave the German magazine Der Spiegel. Church said the idea gets a brief mention as a theoretical possibility in his recent book.

Scientists have recovered DNA from Neanderthal fossils. Making a Neanderthal baby would start with putting that DNA into human stem cells.

Church says such a process would face ethical questions.

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