Would it be legal to clone a caveman?

[Quixote1818]

Legally they would not be human. Right? :shrug: If so, can it be done sometime in the future and what would be the moral implications of such a "being" living in our world?

I am asking this in a serious manor because I have heard scientists are getting close to being able to clone extinct mammals etc. It might be something we would have to deal with in the future. Or maybe not?

[BlueJazz]

1. Excuse my Pessimism. Americans would vote him in for President.

:rofl: :rofl:

[Quixote1818]

2. Maybe scientists learned how to do this back in 1946

and it's all been kept secret!!!!

That explains everything!!!:wow:

[BlueJazz]

18. I suspected as such. :)

[MonkeyFunk]

3. Why would a cloned caveman not be a human?

I'm missing something.

[SharkSquid]

4. Depends on what kind of "Caveman"

[Quixote1818]

6. Yep. They would have to come up with laws defining what cavemen qualify as fully human

or which ones branched off the wrong way or were not much sharper than apes or monkeys. Man would that create a lot of crazy legal issues and arguments.

[SharkSquid]

8. Have you read Arthur C Clarks books?

He talks alot about qualifying Chimps as "Homo" instead of "Pan"

[Quixote1818]

10. I kind of agree with him on that. They can communicate feelings etc.

They are probably more human than a lot of people.

[MonkeyFunk]

12. Most, if not all mammals, and plenty of non-mammals...

can "communicate feelings". That's not the hallmark of humanity.

[SharkSquid]

15. I think it is the awareness of time

and a sense of past and future that is supposed to be our halmark.

[MonkeyFunk]

9. I guess

if we're talking about Homo Neanderthalis, they might not be considered legal humans. But cro-Magnon certainly were human.

[Basileus Basileon]

26. I'd imagine they probably would be.

I would think any Homo would be.

[GreenPartyVoter]

5. Can you imagine instead of exhibits of man through the ages made up of

mannequins, a "zoo" of living breathing human ancestors? I think there would be a brouhaha over that.

[Quixote1818]

7. Holy Shit!!!

:wow: I thought I was stoned for a second there! What a wild scenario!

[GreenPartyVoter]

11. And if they can do THAT, then this could also happen some day

[Quixote1818]

16. Or even worse!

[GreenPartyVoter]

28. Aaaahhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!! *runs screaming into the night* But wait! What if we

raise them to be good liberals? I mean, nature has its say, but nurture also comes into play. (Hey, that;s kinda catchy!) :P

[drm604]

13. First define "caveman".

I don't think it's even a scientific term so I don't know what you mean when you say "caveman".

[hlthe2b]

14. Given the shift in demographics... Repugs will have to promote

to replenish their base.... :evilgrin:

[Didereaux]

17. it would a very interesting dilemma for the anti-evolutionists...

Technically, as I read it, Homo sapiens sapiens is modern man; hence, in the view of the anti-stemcell anti-evolutionary anti anti crowd such as homo neanderthalis or even Homo sapiens (singular) would not be classed as humans and therefor nothing more than another lowly animal. If they did not feel comfortable with that they would be forced toconcede that evolution is not a trumped up theory promoted by some evil devil or another.

But since they have not been able(reportedly) to gather sufficient DNA samples from our ancestors it may take a while for science to smite them!

;)

[TechBear_Seattle]

19. Define "caveman"

Yeah, I know you are making reference to the silly Geico ads, but the question stands. At one point, Homo sapiens in many places lived in caves (particularly the sub-species H. sapiens sapiens palestinus, aka Cro-Magnon); so did H. neanderthalensis, H. floresiensis and very likely H. erectus and H. habilis as well. As members of the genus Homo, they are all arguably humans, and laws applying to research on humans would apply to them as well.

[htuttle]

20. I think I'd draw the 'human' line based on whether the species can mate with humans

As far as I know, chimps cannot...fruitfully, anyway. I suspect, but have no proof, that H. neanderthalensis probably could, ergo I think they should be considered 'human'.

But just because a particular primate is not human doesn't mean we should exploit it. That's how the Planet of the Apes got it's start, for gawd's sake...

[TechBear_Seattle]

27. I made no mention of chimps

I was very careful to include as human only members of the genus Homo. The common chimpanzee and bonobos are members of the genus Pan (P. troglodytes and P. paniscus respectively) although Pan and Homo are both members of the family Hominidae along with Gorilla and Pongo (orangutans.)

:hi:

[Rick Myers]

21. You would need Dubya's DNA.

[edbermac]

22. Stupidest commercials I ever saw.

x(

[frogmarch]

23. Here's a good article

pertaining to the two-year Neanderthal Genome Project that was launched in July, 2006:

http://www.livescience.com/health/061115_neanderthal_dna.html

I don't think attempts at cloning one will happen any time soon. For one thing, a modern human would be the surrogate as well as the oocyte donor, and interspecies cloning is risky for a variety of reasons, including the fact that in interspecies cloning, the mitochondrial DNA of the two species usually "clashes." One possible way to achieve successful Neanderthal cloning would be to add a good dollop of Neanderthal cytoplasm to the enucleated oocyte before SCNT is begun. Another would be to add Neanderthal mitochondrial genes that code for proteins to the Neanderthal nucleus.

I'm not going to hold my breath waiting to see a real, live caveman...er, caveperson.

[kineneb]

24. dude, we got 'em already: they have "R" behind their name.

no need to clone cavemen/women. Neanderthal lives; no, wait, make that Australopithecus afarensis.

[Basileus Basileon]

25. It would certainly be human. Now, an Australopithecine--that's trickier.

I'd still think that would end up being human.

[leftofthedial]

29. where do you think repukes come from?

[LeftishBrit]

30. They already did. He became your president.