Though it’s still a few years off, scientists are considering the possibility of using fragmented Neanderthal DNA to bring the prehistoric beings into the modern world.
Since 1996 when the world met the first successful clone, Dolly the sheep, science has greatly improved and tons of animals have been successfully cloned and in 2003, an extinct animal was even cloned, though it died minutes later.
This last clone has inspired the idea of cloning Neanderthals, who were close relatives of modern humans. The cloning technique relies on something called nuclear transfer in which the nucleus is removed from an intact cell and the cell is then placed into a hollowed out egg cell of a same or related species. This hybrid egg is then implanted into the uterus of a surrogate female where it will grow and develop before being born, like a regular baby would.
However, this process requires an intact cell of which there are none for Neanderthals, so scientists have may have to resort to some tricks to make it happen. To clone a Neanderthal, the cell of a closely related species (modern human) would be needed and its DNA would have to be genetically engineered to match that of Neanderthals.
However, it would still need to be implanted into a female uterus and the fact that so many clones die so soon can be wreak emotional havoc on the surrogate mother. Even if a Neanderthal child is successfully born, it will likely face all sorts of social and intellectual problems in school and work due to its appearance, strength and intellect. On top of that, Neanderthals existed before the agricultural revolution, so the would get sick on our diet which is heavy on grains and dairy.
Some scientists wonder why Neanderthal cloning needs to happen at all and suggest cloning a few of their cells in order to learn about and assist in curing modern diseases that plague humans.
These procedures are extremely timely and expensive, so we don’t expect to see them happening anytime too soon, but it’s interesting to think that you could have a Neanderthal student as your class mate or best friend one day!
Do you think it’s ethical to create Neanderthal clones?
Yes, it’s for the sake of science!
No, it’s unfair to the clones.