The resurrection of extinct species is definitely more feasible than
interstellar travel and advances in DNA reading and writing technology
have advanced a million fold in little more than half a dozen years.
The speed of light is still the speed of light even though the bulk of
Sci Fi writers simply ignore it. We'll certain see such things long
before sending a probe to Barnard's star or travel back in time to
observe our remote ancestors.
Harvard professor George
Church, pioneer of the Human Genome Project and founder of half a dozen
Biotech firms thinks the technology is just about here that enables us
to facilitate the "de-extinction" of vanished species -- perhaps not
creatures that died out over a million years ago -- you're not going to
see a real Jurassic park any time soon unless it contains reverse
engineered birds that sort of look like some Dinosaurs, but he thinks
we're on the verge of being able to bring back the Neanderthalers.
He
stops short of saying we ought to and of course it's illegal to clone
humans in Europe and the US, but he thinks we might learn something
important to our own future. Establishing a group of our long lost
cousins and possible partial ancestors might show us that they were more
intelligent, with their bigger brains or perhaps had some talents that
we do not and might allow us an increase in human biodiversity.
"it's conceivable that their way of thinking could be beneficial" said Church to an interviewer from Der Spiegel.
Wayne
LaPierre stated yesterday that a study should be initiated to determine
the citizenship status of any non-Homo Sapiens clone born in the US or
possessions so as to establish a Neanderthaler's right to keep and bear
arms other than wooden spears. Several coaches and athletic
associations have expressed interest in any such project, while Tea
Party spokesmen have been rather unanimous in objecting to allowing such
clones to take 'human' jobs as much as they would welcome them into the
party ranks, should their intelligence not be too great.
Cloning humans, or even almost humans is illegal, sure, but America is waiting.