Cloning Neanderthals in the offing?

[RGClark]

A report from the German magazine Der Spiegel came out Monday that a Harvard geneticist wanted to clone a Neanderthal:

Palaeolithic Park? Harvard professor seeks 'adventurous' woman to give birth to baby Neanderthal.
Professor George Church plans to bring our long-extinct relative back to life using artificial DNA.
John Hall, Monday 21 January 2013
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/s...o-give-birth-to-baby-neanderthal-8460273.html

However, he now says he only believes this is a topic that should be now discussed:

I'm no Dr Moreau! Harvard professor says he is NOT looking for a woman to give birth to a Neanderthal, blaming reports on a poor translation.
Professor George Church denies planning to bring our long-extinct relative back to life using artificial DNA
John Hall, Tuesday 22 January 2013
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/s...ng-reports-on-a-poor-translation-8461707.html


Bob Clark

 

[Quick_Nick]

I just want a mammoth. But I'm not sure an "adventurous" elephant would suffice.

 

[Izack]

Why stop there? We must clone dinosaurs. Who's feeling adventurous?

 

[MattBaker]

To "clone" something you need its DNA. That might be relatively easy for mammoths since Russians found complete bodies in their soil, but I'm quite sure you don't find enough DNA of any dinosaur species...

About cloning a neanderthal: It would be interesting, but since there are too many people around believing in a superiority of one homo sapiens sapiens "race" over another we would probably treat something that is much more different like animals. So until we fix this I don't trust the "sapient sapient" humans to be nice to our Neanderthal-buddies and putting them in a zoo isn't the answer either. (too basement-ish? If I offended anyone that was not my ambition.)
And another aspect: Every species is adapted to one environment. Whales live in the sea where they can swim and eat plankton or whatever this species likes. And a Neanderthal is adapted to the life of a hunter/gatherer, where you need other skills than you need as a Wal-Mart/water tapper. So a Neanderthal is probably not going to live in the environment he was made for, so all of our "experiments" with them would be biased (unless you create a "Europe-50,000 BC-Eden Project" with a few hundred square cilometers).

 

[Urwumpe]

I am not sure if the Neanderthal human is really extinct, or simply adapted to wear suit and tie and became investment banker.

 

[Screamer7]

I am not sure if the Neanderthal human is really extinct, or simply adapted to wear suit and tie and became investment banker.

Maybe an astronaut too?.......

 

[Quick_Nick]

Random comment, I have NEVER heard the phrase "in the offing" until now. I had to look it up to see if it was another poor translation.

 

[Urwumpe]

Random comment, I have NEVER heard the phrase "in the offing" until now. I had to look it up to see if it was another poor translation.

same here, but at least my first guess was right: Neaderthal ante portas.

 

[FADEC]

Maybe an astronaut too?.......

No. An astronaut is a modern human

 

[Cras]

Why stop there? We must clone dinosaurs. Who's feeling adventurous?

I wanna say this would be a bad move.......

But if we go through with it....best do it on some tropical island in the middle of nowhere, just to be safe. And plenty of precautions. Like electric fences, and security all fully automated. Yeah. That should keep it all under control. Spare no expense.

 

[mojoey]

I wanna say this would be a bad move.......

But if we go through with it....best do it on some tropical island in the middle of nowhere, just to be safe. And plenty of precautions. Like electric fences, and security all fully automated. Yeah. That should keep it all under control. Spare no expense.

Jeff Goldblum armed with a Spas-12 with incendiary shells.

 

[Urwumpe]

Jeff Goldblum armed with a Spas-12 with incendiary shells.

Nothing that I would consider helpful against a overspeeding T-Rex. A Carl Gustav might be a better choice, with HEDP ammo (bunker busting ammo).

 

[mojoey]

Nothing that I would consider helpful against a overspeeding T-Rex. A Carl Gustav might be a better choice, with HEDP ammo (bunker busting ammo).

It would work on Bearodactyls.

 

[MattBaker]

Nothing that I would consider helpful against a overspeeding T-Rex.

Well, some say that the T-Rex didn't hunt so the only thing you would have to do when one runs towards you is throwing away your dead cat and move along...

 

[Evil_Onyx]

:beathead: I just heard this story (the first one) on a major radio station, Why can they not research the stories they Air, / rant over

I think that one of the more important parts of what made a Neanderthal a Neanderthal would be missing if you just cloned them. You would be missing the natural behavior that would be more interesting in my opinion.

If in the future some one went ahead with this, what rights would it have? would we not have the same morale conundrum we have with Homo sapien cloneing?

 

[Urwumpe]

Well, some say that the T-Rex didn't hunt so the only thing you would have to do when one runs towards you is throwing away your dead cat and move along...

This hypothesis had already been rejected by more recent research, after calculating how much energy a warmblooded T-Rex needed for just waiting for a dead brontosaur to appear in front of him...

It is more likely that he did both hunting and eating what is still not completely rotten, like many other modern predators.

In case Jack Horner is wrong, you might throw away the dead cat and unlock and load...

 

[4throck]

I am not sure if the Neanderthal human is really extinct, or simply adapted to wear suit and tie and became investment banker.

Some studies point to hybrid sapiens sapiens / neanderthal skeletons. Nevertheless both the last neanderthals and those supposed hybrids lived in Iberia (at least I read that somewhere).

So I might have a neanderthal distant relative!

 

[mojoey]

:beathead: I just heard this story (the first one) on a major radio station, Why can they not research the stories they Air, / rant over

I think that one of the more important parts of what made a Neanderthal a Neanderthal would be missing if you just cloned them. You would be missing the natural behavior that would be more interesting in my opinion.

If in the future some one went ahead with this, what rights would it have? would we not have the same morale conundrum we have with Homo sapien cloneing?

Well, it would (if successful) lend creedence to the theory that we retain instincts allowing for survival through DNA.

 

[4throck]

Instincts, probably yes. There are no dragons, yet they are universally know.
They have the attributes of a predator and are quite reptilian. As mammals, we instinctively know that reptiles are dangerous.
If that's not instinct I don't know what is.

 

[Loru]

I wonder... will he use kickstarter to gather funds?