[GeekyGator]

As those of you who check wikipedia regularly know, the Neanderthal Genome Project has completed the first draft of the Neanderthal Genome.

The obvious question raised by this is what do we /do/ with it. Disregarding possible technical limitations, should we clone an ancient human ancestor/cousin for research purposes?

[crazedmongoose2003]

I'm not one of those "we shouldn't play god" people, I don't believe the sheer magnificence and impossibility of a matter should prevent science from breaching it.


But there are definite ethical issues which would arise from this. We can assume that Neanderthals like us were sentient. Is it right then to clone a creature, give it life and consciousness, and then assume complete control over him/her? That's an individual......human being, right there.


This is something we could get six philosophy students to spend a whole day arguing.

[GeekyGator]

Six? Hell, one philosophy student could argue with /himself/ for a week over something this good. Especially since it's not all hypothetical, it's entirely possible.

[crazedmongoose2003]

Alright let's go. I'll be the deontologist dude.

[AuinMyrrath]

There's the ethical issue of Homo sapiens neanderthalensis (remove the "sapiens" depending on school of classification) is, as mentioned, the fact that they were sapient beings.

I say we should start with the Mammuthus primigenius - we have their genome mapped as well ;D.

[GeekyGator]

Of course, but why not do both?

[deraj]

Lacking in morals, I still say "Why?"

It's stuff lie this and NASA that people forget about while whining about the economy. How much will this cost? Furthermore, what is the point? A page in a medical journal or something?

[GeekyGator]

Cost? Hmm. I have not considered it. Presumably it'd be relatively cheap compared to a space program, no more than a billion or two.

We could learn a lot about our past, and learn even more about how genes work by having another sentient creature to compare.

[limpchickeninabizkit]

This reminds me of Ian Malcolm in the first Jurassic Park. Its bringing back a creature that was "selected" for extinction, not wiped out due to over hunting or habitat destruction. Whilst I know a caveman isn't going to escape and eat many people, but the same idea applies.

On the other hand, I'm of the belief that Humans are essentially just another animal, so if we can clone mammoths and sheep, why not humans and their ancestors?

In the end it reminds me of the episode of South Park where the boys find a guy frozen from 1994 I think. Watch it for hilarity and relevance to this episode, and to see Steve Irwin piss some animals off....

[AuinMyrrath]

Actually, it would be a phenomenal step for many fields - it would demonstrate the viability of large-organism cloning, prove the feasibility of "Jurassic Park" concepts, show us just how intelligent they were... maybe even give us insight into their culture.