[Omega]

A group of researchers has begun working on piecing together the genome of a neandertal (Homo sapiens neanderthalensis), a long extinct human subspecies. They project that they will be able to have the entire neandertal genome put together in just 2 or 3 years. It would then be possible, using a human egg and surrogate mother, to clone a neandertal.

While this is incredible it raises several moral dilemmas. Do you think we should clone a neandertal when we are able to do so?

[KimYoshiko]

I think that, in the US at least, the question would come down to how "human" the clone would be. Human cloning in the US is taboo, so if the neandertal is considered "too human," then I don't think such an experiment would be allowed. I could see the cloning of a neandertal happening in countries where the taboo against human cloning is not as strong.

I think it's difficult to justify this procedure, though. Cloning more often than not ends in failure, and I don't see the benefit of cloning neandertals. (I don't see the benefit of cloning woolly mammoths either, by the way. Or deceased pets, though that's an entirely different story.) Even if we managed to clone a complete, healthy neandertal, or even several of them, it's not as if we're aiming to reestablish a population.

[Omega]

You're right, the aim is not to reestablish them as a population. I think the primary goal would be to learn things about them that we are unable to learn by looking at their remains and genetic code alone. And hopefully by doing so we would be learning more about the origin of our own species. Human cloning is indeed taboo, but human curiosity is one of the more powerful things in this world.

[C_S_Bernard]

Yes. And that curiosity has batted a good 50-50 for us, eh?

I thought so much of you when reading Soren Kierkegaard's Diary. We rush off after each new novel little invention and get so excited, then when things get out of hand, we start wanting to put the brakes on our little advancements, we recoil in horror at "science" run amuk. And we repeat the process over. We opened the atomic Pandora's Box and spent half a century worried we were going to blast ourselves off the face of the planet. And, given the world as it is now, now we're worried about puny little countries doing the same thing.

Even if I believe or don't believe in a god, I have come, fully, to share the opinion of some that there are questions many will not like the answer to.

So? We find the missing link or something? Well, why don't we just pat ourselves on the back and say we've accomplished something. By reverse engineering evolution and defying the bio-mechanical laws of evolution; god or no god. Quaint.

I'm already missing the atomic bomb.

I don't have anything else to say on this matter.

[Omega]

I honestly don't see the cloning of a neandertal to be practical. Surely the most valuable information to be obtained would be information concerning its social structure... Which would obviously not exist if there were only one, and would be impossible to recreate even if we created dozens.

[Mythros]

i dont see what we could learn from doing it other than social reaction. if it has some level of intelligence it could be considered cloning a human. would it have the same rights as us, would it be treated like a lab rat or a zoo animal? maybe if they are not intelligent and close enough related they could be used for medical purposes? idk. seems like a waist of time and money. i would say it is too much of a moral issue to happen, but at this time morality is loosing the battle to genetics.

[Omega]

Morality is never "losing". Morality is the product of society. It is a social concept. It is never lost, it simply evolves.

[KimYoshiko]

Mythros said what I couldn't phrase in my first post; I find it cruel to bring something into existence which can neither live a natural life nor serve a meaningful purpose toward furthering science or society. In addition, cloning complex organisms is a procedure riddled with numerous problems. Cloning a neanderthal would probably take hundreds of attempts, none of which would be guaranteed to succeed. Also consider the women who would be needed to attempt this experiment. And in the end, what is the reward?

Reconstructing the neandertal genome would be a very impressive accomplishment, and would likely reveal more understanding about ourselves and our biological structures, which I think is justification. Actually cloning a neandertal (a child, too) and likely condemning him/her to a life of little else but experimentation and observation is cruel, I think.

[Omega]

While I find the possibility fascinating and incredible I do agree with the rest of you. When I first heard of this possibility I imagined the neadertal as a young child. I don't see a meaningful benefit which justifies the treatment of such a thing.

[Sprite]

What an awful thought. The poor thing would spend its entire life being something people gawk at. Would it grow up in a lab?