Neanderthal baby clone possible with surrogate mother, says Harvard professor

ISTANBUL

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. AP Photo/Lisa Poole

Creating a Neanderthal baby with the help of a surrogate mother will be possible in our lifetime and would benefit society, George Church, a respected Harvard professor of genetics, has said, according to LiveScience.com.

This would increase genetic diversity, Church told Der Spiegel.

Cloning a Neanderthal baby will be possible in the near future, according to Church. After chopping genomes up into chunks, a Neanderthal clone could be created, he said.

However Church has warned it is possible a Neanderthal baby might not survive, due to a lack of immunity to modern infectious diseases.

A surrogate mother, if one can be found, might also experience unexpected health problems, according to experts.

"I'm certainly not advocating it," Church said, adding that it was important to start discussing the subject if it is technically possible.