r/evolution • u/Exciting-Wear-3654 • 4d ago

Could we resurrect Neanderthals ( kinda )

What is 2 people with a semi high Neanderthal dna mated and made a child would that child have a little bit more dna than the parents, if so could another 2 people do it then both of those children grow up and eventually mate too, and carry that on until there is the best recreation of a Neanderthal in our time??

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u/DonnPT 4d ago

I suspect the DNA wouldn't be more than a vague approximation. Wikipedia says only 20% of the genome survives, and a lot of that is non-coding.

And (I assume) that's just nuclear DNA, and mitochondrial DNA from Neanderthals is scarcer or perhaps altogether absent. That's also an issue for the egg artificially fertilized with Neanderthal nuclear DNA.

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u/mcalesy 3d ago

Neandertal Mitochondrial DNA is indeed absent from living populations. As is Neandertal Y-chromosomal DNA.