Scientists Create Neanderthal Genome

Life Style Extra ^ | 08 Nov 2006 | National News

[FLOutdoorsman]

Scientists are reconstructing the genome of Neanderthals - the close relations of modern man.

The ambitious project involves isolating genetic fragments from fossils of the prehistoric beings who originally inhabited Europe to map their complete DNA.

The Neanderthal people were believed to have died out about 35,000 years ago - at a time when modern humans were advancing across the continent.

Lead researcher Dr Svante Paabo, an evolutionary geneticist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, said: "This would be the first time we have sequenced the entire genome of an extinct organism."

But the prospect of using the genome to produce a living Neanderthal has been ruled out.

A popular caricature portrays Neanderthals as beetle-browed brutes - but this is far from the truth, reports New Scientist.

"Neanderthals were sophisticated stone-tool makers and made razor-sharp knives out of flint," said Dr Richard Klein, an anthropologist at Stanford University, California.

"They made fires when and where they wanted and seem to have made a living by hunting large mammals such as bison and deer."

Neanderthals also buried their dead, which, fortunately for researchers, increases the odds of the bones being preserved.

"By sequencing their entire genome we can begin to learn more about their biology," said Dr Eddy Rubin, a geneticist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Walnut Creek, California.

The genetic questions could also solve the biggest mystery of all - why did Neanderthals die out while modern humans went on to conquer the globe?

Dr Paabo and colleagues pioneered the genetic study of Neanderthals by extracting and decoding fragments of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from the bones of the original specimen, discovered in 1856 in the Neander Valley in Germany.

The mtDNA Dr Paabo sequenced suggested humans split from Neanderthals about 500,000 years ago - which fits neatly with the fossil record. It also suggested Neanderthals did not interbreed with our ancestors.

Dr Paabo's team have selected two Neanderthal specimens to work on based on the fact both have "clean" DNA that is relatively uncontaminated.

One is a 38,000-year-old fossil from Vindija, Croatia. The other is the original specimen, which, despite being extensively handled, has unusually clean DNA in its right upper arm bone.

During its lifetime the individual lost the use of its left arm after breaking it and had to rely on the right arm - causing the bones to grow thicker and denser than usual.

After death this shielded the DNA from contamination. The researchers are also hunting for new specimens that can be sampled before other people get their hands on them.

They have so far sequenced about a million base pairs of nuclear DNA from the Croatian fossil and hope to publish a draft of the whole genome in two years.

"It is definitely possible to sequence the entire genome from such well-preserved specimens," said Dr Eske Willerslev, an expert in ancient DNA at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

"Perhaps the biggest difficulty will be verifying the sequences obtained are genuinely from the Neanderthal genome and not a contaminant - as so much of it will be identical to the human genome."

The genome is sure to fuel the particularly intense controversy that has surrounded a much-vaunted aspect of human uniqueness - language.

"There's been a debate going for more than 30 years about the speech capabilities of Neanderthals," says Dr Philip Lieberman, a cognitive scientist at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.

"It's clear from the fossil record and comparisons with modern humans that Neanderthals could speak."

But the prospect of the genome providing the blueprint for resurrecting a living "Jurassic-Park-style" Neanderthal is unlikely.

Dr Paabo said: "We would be able to create a physical Neanderthal genome but we will not be able to recreate a Neanderthal - even if we wanted to."

[timer]

There you go, what homo sap would want to mate with THAT neanderthal-ogre?

[Godebert]

"What a bunch of hooey. 6,000 years ago the Earth didn't even exist, never mind 35,000 years. Typical evolutionist mumbo jumbo."

I hope your faith in God isn't dependant on the idea that the Earth is only six thousand years old.

[Jimmy Valentine]

"The Neanderthals are alive and well,"

Tuesday gave us enough evidence of that.

[Dustbunny]

LOL .... that is a possibliity

[GSlob]

"Tuesday gave us enough evidence of that."
Well, the road to recovery is to start from the self-analysis, i.e. from the question "what and where have we done wrong?" Looking for the others to blame [be they neanderthals or not] is the rat mentality, for which we rightfully condemn the al sharptons.

[billybudd]

Heh, of course not. I see evolution as the hand of God, creating the world still to this day. My assumption jives with Genesis, which describes creation as a chronological progression from simpler to more complex forms (planet first, then life, then sentient life). That is, unless you look at Genesis *literally*, which makes no sense to me since it is a translation of a translation of an initially metaphorical text. Obsessively fixating on the precise words like "6 days" ends up obscuring the essential truth of the story, kind of missing the forest for the trees. In my mind, it is analogous to worshipping an image of God rather than God himself and amounts to blasphemy. </rant>

[imintrouble]

They didn't have to travel far - should have looked at the Government House in Sacramento.

[yazooed]

Hello - I was just wondering if you were serious in your response please.

[Jimmy Valentine]

So, notionally, I should not step into the shower holding my toaster.

Well, all right. Maybe we can remind the RINO-Boodlehound caucus in the Republican Party that sticking with first principals not only makes for good governance, it gets one re-elected.

I'll still have the roast duck with the mango salsa though ;)

[billybudd]

My response #3 was sarcastic, but my response #26 was serious.

[RightWhale]

made a living by hunting large mammals such as bison and deer." Neanderthals also buried their dead

Parsing. It's a tough living hunting big game with flint knives and bare fists. Get lots of practice burying the dead.

[SunkenCiv]

The Neandertal Enigma
by James Shreeve

Frayer's own reading of the record reveals a number of overlooked traits that clearly and specifically link the Neandertals to the Cro-Magnons. One such trait is the shape of the opening of the nerve canal in the lower jaw, a spot where dentists often give a pain-blocking injection. In many Neandertal, the upper portion of the opening is covered by a broad bony ridge, a curious feature also carried by a significant number of Cro-Magnons. But none of the alleged 'ancestors of us all' fossils from Africa have it, and it is extremely rare in modern people outside Europe." [pp 126-127]

[SunkenCiv]

pingworthy?

[SunkenCiv]

Just adding this to the GGG catalog, not sending a general distribution.

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. Thanks.

Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on or off the
"Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list or GGG weekly digest
-- Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)

[SunkenCiv]

Neanderthal Yields Nuclear DNA
BBC | 5-16-2006
Posted on 05/16/2006 6:33:16 PM EDT by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1633356/posts

Scientists Sequence Neanderthal Genome For First Time
http://www.reasons.org/press_releases/20060601.shtml
Posted on 05/31/2006 11:02:01 PM EDT by truthfinder9
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1641548/posts

Scientists Plan to Rebuild Neanderthal Genome
New York Times | July 20, 2006 | Nicholas Wade
Posted on 07/20/2006 7:06:56 PM EDT by CobaltBlue
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1669474/posts

Project plans map of Neanderthal genome
The Globe and Mail | 7/24/06 | GEIR MOULSON
Posted on 07/24/2006 2:41:28 PM EDT by doc30
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1671396/posts

Scientists Bid To Take Neanderthal DNA Sample
Scotsman | 10-1-2006 | Kark Mansfield
Posted on 10/01/2006 2:00:57 PM EDT by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1711689/posts

[SunkenCiv]

Okay, I've determined this one is the winner. :')

To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. Thanks.

Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on or off the
"Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list or GGG weekly digest
-- Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)

[Pelham]

Do you know how to make tin?

Just wondering if you are as clever as the "dumb" antler-wielding Neanderthal.

[Dustbunny]

You are so right !!!

I think some of them recently won elections to Congress.

[Dustbunny]

Yepper. A statement that I have voiced frequently over the last 50 years,

[Physicist]

They call it downs syndrome now.

Down Syndrome:

Neanderthal:

Look at the bulbous forehead of the Down syndrome patient, and compare it to the nonexistent forehead of the Neanderthal.

Look at the heavy orbits and pronounced brow ridge of the Neanderthal, and compare them to the thin orbits and nonexistent brow ridge of the Down syndrome patient.

There are other features you can't see well in these pictures, like the Neanderthal's occipital bun, and the difference in jaw shape. Suffice it to say that ways in which a Down syndrome skull differ from a normal modern human skull are completely different from the ways in which a Neanderthal skull differs from a normal modern human skull.