Ok, not really, but the scientific community is seriously considering it. I am all about scientific discovery, pushing the limits of the mind and thinking outside of the box, etc, etc. However, this cloning thing has me a wee bit worried, especially when it comes to cloning a humanoid species, a species that our ancestors out competed and/or bred out. I think the ethics are all wrong in even considering bringing back such ancient DNA. Imagine it, a little neanderthal child with the adaptive instinct to live in an earlier, newer, substantially more dangerous Earth, cooped up in some top secret government lab. What kind of life would that be? A pet, some wild experiment with no one to explain to him why his DNA feels literally out of time?
These are the thoughts and questions that I hope scientists will consider if their cloning ability gets to the level where they can clone a Neanderthal. Right now, the simple fact that the cloning process requires an intact cell of the organism that is to be cloned, has left Neanderthal cloning out of the scientific communities' reach. The lack of an intact Neanderthal cell will require that cloning techniques evolve methods that allow partial DNA cloning and DNA rewriting. Until that time, the ethical issues of cloning ancient DNA can be mulled over and debated within the cloning community. Let's just hope cloning doesn't get too out of hand or, Universe help us, we might have to answer for playing God with evolutionary processes that should have run their courses a long time ago. All I can say is that with great power comes great responsibility, so don't clone a mother****ing Neanderthal...Please.
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