The Time Capsule: Cloning Neanderthals, a moral dilemma
My grandfather used to say certain people were “educated beyond their intelligence.” He said that about the scientists who made the atomic bomb. He said it about economists who insisted the government could spend their way out of debt.
Had he lived a few years longer, I expect he’d have said it of health and nutrition experts who told us eating eggs was good. Then it was lethal. “No, wait,” they said later. “We’ve done another study and eggs are fine if they’ve been incinerated.” And later still: “Hold the phone on those eggs—we’ve done another study. . . “
Grandpa died at the age of 87. He had eaten at least two, often three, soft-boiled eggs for breakfast nearly every day of his life. This amounts to 72,912 eggs, give or take a dozen, which is no doubt what got him. To be safe, I’m going to stop at 60,000.
If grandpa was still alive, and if he’d laid off the eggs he probably would be, I expect he’d put a Harvard professor named George Church in the “educated beyond” category. Professor Church has, for more than 20 years, been engaged in genome sequencing and related DNA research. He has reached the point at which he says he can take DNA from Neanderthal fossils, synthesize additional DNA and create a tiny little living thing which would then be introduced into the womb of a modern-day surrogate mother. According to a recent interview, he is anxious to do just that.
He acknowledges, though, there are certain obstacles. He is quoted as saying it would take “an extremely adventurous female,” and finding one might take some time. This struck me as odd. George lives in a college town. Unless things have changed there are dozens of nearby bars in which modern-day young women can be found who are willing to temporarily sacrifice their bodies in the interest of science. At closing time Friday, some may be persuaded to do so for less noble causes. Even an old guy like George might hit pay dirt with a pickup line that includes the words “scientific experiment” and “Neanderthal.”
George’s second problem is that cloning humans seems to be technically illegal, or at least socially unacceptable. He sees this as a temporary obstacle, saying there are other countries and that laws and attitudes can, after all, be changed.
He cites several reasons why he’s so intent on creating a Neanderthal. He tells us recent research has indicated Neanderthals were highly intelligent. The women were well-versed in culinary arts, and even wore make-up. They were fine people, he believes, and bringing them back would increase diversity.
There are a plethora of moral and ethical reasons why this shouldn’t take place. People like George Church, however, have figured out how and if for no other reason than that they can, they will. If it isn’t done here it will be elsewhere. Better, I suppose, to clone Neanderthals than Progressive Liberals.
Personally, I suspect this will be more a curiosity than a pivotal point in the history of mankind. I don’t know if George has considered evolution. Any baby born of fossilized DNA will have by-passed thousands of years of acclimation to the current environment. A Neanderthal come-to-life could no doubt quickly learn to text, twitter and tweet—if it lived long enough. American Indians succumbed by the millions to measles and chicken pox, without being exposed to anything like the strains of flu that float around today.
I suppose our Neanderthal could be sealed in a controlled environment, but how would that contribute to diversification? I wonder if George is perhaps into this for the chicks.
Roy Marshall is a local historian and columnist for the Red Oak Express. He can be contacted at news@redoakexpress.com.