Harvard scientist blames cloned cave baby rumor on poor translation

Source: Boston Herald

Last week, many web sites reported that a Harvard geneticist was looking for a surrogate mother in order to clone a Neanderthal baby.

Today, however, Professor George M. Church told BostonHerald.com that this is “outlandish,” indicating that the rumor was a case of bad translation:

“He blames a mistake in an article he says was written off an interview in the German magazine Der Spiegel, badly misinterpreting what he said — that such a cloning might theoretically be possible someday — and arriving at the conclusion that he was actively looking for a woman to bear a cave baby with DNA scavenged from ancient Neanderthal bones. He suggested poor translation skills may be part of the problem.” More.

See: Boston Herald

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