

Wanted: Surrogate for Neanderthal Baby - nekojima
http://www.technologyreview.com/view/510071/wanted-surrogate-for-neanderthal-baby/

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threedaymonk
First, I'm highly dubious that a reconstructed Neanderthal embryo is really
that viable: look at the success rates of assisted reproduction when the
parents are alive and in the room, let alone dead for tens of millenia!

Second, what ethics board would approve this experiment? There are risks to
the surrogate mother, and, even if the child did come to term, what are the
chances that it would be physically healthy? What about its psychological
health?

As with mammoths, I can see the appeal, but this is about human beings.

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pavel_lishin
> _look at the success rates of assisted reproduction when the parents are
> alive and in the room_

What are the success rates?

> _Second, what ethics board would approve this experiment?_

Probably one outside of the United States. Which makes me excited to meet a
Neanderthal, but very worried about their treatment in a country that would go
forward with this experiment.

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threedaymonk
_> What are the success rates?_

Poking around on the HFEA website, I found the national averages for the UK.
Using fresh embryos from donor eggs (which seems the closest equivalent to the
present case), 31.7% of embryo transfers result in a live birth.

That will vary by clinic and country, of course.

Source:
[http://guide.hfea.gov.uk/guide/HeadlineData.aspx?code=157...](http://guide.hfea.gov.uk/guide/HeadlineData.aspx?code=157&s=l&&rate=i&rate_sub=DEF)

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nekojima
Additional coverage:

[http://gawker.com/5977130/could-you-be-the-adventurous-
woman...](http://gawker.com/5977130/could-you-be-the-adventurous-woman-
scientists-need-to-give-birth-to-the-first-neanderthal-baby-in-30000-years)

[http://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/medizin/genforscher-
georg...](http://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/medizin/genforscher-george-
church-will-neandertaler-klonen-a-877554.html) (in German)

