Neanderthals Are Humans Too!

In the editorial Neanderthals Are People Too the author, Svante Paabo discusses the ethical dilemma of replicating a genetically accurate living Neanderthal. He explains how, because scientists have sequenced a genome of a Neanderthal, many scientists think we should create a living breathing Neanderthal for scientific study. However, this presents many problems. Paabo uses his grandfather as an example to argue his point. He explains how his grandfather died long before he ever had the chance to meet him. He admits that he had always wished he had been able to know him, but he would not want to replicate a twin of his grandfather. Paabo believes it is the same with Neanderthals. He says “In a civilized society, we would never create a human being in order to satisfy scientific curiosity.” His point is: we wouldn’t make a human to poke and prod at in the name of research why should the rules be any different for a Neanderthal? They are our ancestors after all.

I agree with Svante Paabo, it is not at all morally right to treat a cloned Neanderthal like a lab rat. Even though this Neanderthal is a clone it is still a human and a real person who has their own thoughts and feelings.

As well as thoughts feelings this clone will have new experiences. When you are born you do have a certain amount of inherited traits, but most of your lifestyle and personality is developed through learning and experiences. To use Paabo’s grandfather as an example, if you cloned a relative that has passed, they will start out with the same traits that your relative started out with. However any part of the person’s personality that was learned or developed will be absent. This new clone will develop different traits because their childhood environment will be different from that of your relative. The clone will not be exactly the same as your relative, and – I’m no scientist—but I think this could possibly happen with a cloned Neanderthal. This cloned Neanderthal will be living and growing in the twenty first century, a drastically different environment than what original Neanderthals experienced and that could impact how this Neanderthal lives and acts.

Paabo is absolutely right when he says cloning a Neanderthal for lab work is not ethical. It is unfair to the Neanderthal clone. Thankfully, some scientists have thought of alternatives such as growing Neanderthal tissue and studying that. It will be alive and observable, but it will be only a swatch of cells which is a much less harmful alternative. I do believe that research such as this will be useful to the future of science, but I also think we have to be careful about how we go about it.