The next step of evolution?

Better feet-? :)

Ah, cloning… One of the most controversial subjects. Don’t know if that scientist will get stones thrown on his face or not…

The only real issue I have with this is this:
What would be the legal status of the cloned Neanderthal? Unless the international community can guarantee that it would have full human rights, it should not be allowed.

@ragingloli I suspect that some will treat clones as children while others (especially the US) will consider them property of the lab that made them.

@Coloma Where did you find this?

Probably some nerd who is afraid of women, wanting to show his dominance from afar.

This whole thing is very interesting and I’m as curious about this as the professor is, but he is so much like the mad scientist found in literature it’s almost funny. The problems are as described by @ragingloli. There is a boatload of ethics and legality we must consider first—as earthlings, not just Americans—if we want to continue to see ourselves as a responsible society. Or, like in other ethically questionable medical efforts, he can simply take it offshore to a country with a government run by people who don’t give a damn about such things. And there you are: from Baron Frankenstein to Dr. Moreau.

Darren Curnoe, a human evolutionary biologist at the University of New South Wales, blogged, “The latest findings from genome comparisons reinforce the status of Neanderthals and modern humans as distinct species.

Which brings up the question of whether they would even be subject to the present day laws forbidding cloning of humans.

I say it is worth a try.

I’m afraid organisms that are clones or created become ‘property’. I wrote an article about this when Dolly was cloned and when researchers were trying to reconstruct the DNA from a Moa bone found in a bog in New Zealand. They were talking about trying to clone another smaller bird called the Huia. The organisms created are owned. There would have to be some sort of legal pact put together before hand, like in the case of the Huia bird would be gifted to the Maori people and to the people of New Zealand if successful.

and Technically speaking… this wouldn’t be evolution.

I too find it amazing and amusing and do not agree with going forward with this sort of thing at all. What will the poor creature be, a zoo exhibit? Reminds me of an old twilight Zone episode where a stranded astronaut is set up in a “habitat” as an exhibit of man. haha
@Adirondackwannabe I came across the article while reading about primitive man.
@cazzie No, it would not, I was referring to our evolution as wannabe Gods in a sardonic manner.

I find it hard to believe anyone would fund this project. Too many ethical dilemmas to resolve first.