Should we clone a caveman?Scientists at Leipzig's Max Planck Institute are trying to decipher the complete genome of Neanderthals, using sophisticated sequencing techniques to piece together fragments of DNA preserved in ancient bones.
You could probably find Caveman DNA in Gaza or Waziristan.
They say they hope their findings will shed light on the development of language and culture in modern humans. Clearly, though, the real news here is that completing the genome would make it theoretically possible to clone a Neanderthal. The lead scientist behind the project, Dr Paabo, says it would be fascinating, but claims ethical concerns "would totally preclude such an experiment".
Dartmouth ethicist Ronald M Green, however, has already told the New York Times that there's a decent case for cloning cavemen. "If we learn this is a species that was wrongly pushed off the stage of history, there is something of a moral argument for bringing it back," he notes, adding that his main concern would be "for a child born alone in the world with no relatives".
| I'm trying to figure how Neanderthals were "wrongly pushed off the stage of history." Is the implication that those nasty Cro-Magnon ancestors of ours were responsible? Was it a deep-laid conspiracy? A nefarious plot? Perhaps we're taking our sympathy for the underdog to silly extremes under the cloak of ethics. Better, perhaps, to bring back the dodo bird, which was larger and presumably just as tasty as the turkey, or the passenger pigeon, which wasn't as large but which was apparently also delicious, since it was actually hunted out. |