Posted on 06/25/2007 8:51:04 PM PDT by anymouse
Researchers studying Neanderthal DNA say it should be possible to construct a complete genome of the ancient hominid despite the degradation of the DNA over time.
There is also hope for reconstructing the genome of the mammoth and cave bear, according to a research team led by Svante Paabo of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany.
Their findings are published in this week's online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Debate has raged for years about whether there is any relationship between Neanderthals and modern humans. Some researchers believe that Neanderthals were simply replaced by early modern humans, while others argue the two groups may have interbred.
Sequencing the genome of Neanderthals, who lived in Europe until about 30,000 years ago, could shed some light on that question.
In studies of Neanderthals, cave bear and mammoth, a majority of the DNA recovered was that of microorganisms that colonized the tissues after death, the researchers said.
But they were able to identify some DNA from the original animal, and Paabo and his colleagues were able to determine how it broke down over time. They also developed procedures to prevent contamination by the DNA of humans working with the material.
"We are confident that it will be technically feasible to achieve a reliable Neanderthal genome sequence," Paabo and his researchers reported.
They said problem of damaged areas in some DNA could be overcome by using a sufficient amount of Neanderthal DNA from different individuals, so the whole genome can be determined.
"The contamination and degradation of DNA has been a serious issue for the last 10 years," observed Erik Trinkaus, a professor at Washington University in St. Louis. "This is a serious attempt to deal with that issue and that's welcome."
"I'm not sure they have completely solved the problem, but they've made a big step in that direction," said Trinkaus, who was not involved in the research.
Anthropologist Richard Potts of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, called the work "a very significant technical study of DNA decay."
The researchers "have tried to answer important questions about the potential to sequence ancient DNA," said Potts, who was not part of the research.
Milford Wolpoff, a University of Michigan Anthropologist, said creating a complete Neanderthal genome is a great goal.
But it is "sample intensive," he said, and he isn't sure enough DNA is available to complete the work. Curators don't like to see their specimens ground up, he said.
The research was funded by the Max Planck Society and the National Institutes of Health.
Composite photography when we have DNA?????
You have got to be kidding!
Have you ever studied Neanderthals, or evolution? Or forensics?
DNA is pretty good evidence, while things like you suggest are so subjective they are pretty much useless last resorts.
My biggest reason however is the the third one ....whether the Earth was created 6,000 years ago (as some say), or 10,000 years ago (as some Young Earth Creationists pushed back the 6K date when it didn't match with some discoveries that were older than 6K yrs), or eons ago (my personal belief) doesn't matter much. As a Christian what i adhere to is a personal belief in Christ and relationship with him. To me that is what matters ....not whether Adam walked with T-rex (which is just plain dumb .....particularly when i heard that one of the Creationist museums claimed that the reason T-rex had sharp teeth in a perfect world was so that it could eat fruit better!!!! Or the fact that some years back there was an expedition by some Young Earthers to Lake Tele in the Congo to investigate claims of some sort of Loch Ness type lake monster - read 'dinosaur' - that lived there ....in a bid to show that if 'dinosaurs' still exist today then science is wrong on other things too). To me all that is nonsense ....here are far more important things.
Oh, and they never did get any real evidence of that Lake Tele monster. Guess Loch Ness in Scotland is always open for 'research.'
;^)
THe photo idea is just a starting point. Naturally I’d like to see the same thing attempted with DNA fragments of current living humans.
I just hope the cave bear doesn’t eat the cave man.
I dont think they intend to make a neanderthal. They just want to sequence its DNA (and that of mammoth et al). This is a lab job with lots of pipettes and mini test tubes and gel electrophoresis. The aim is to determine relationships between species.
I think its going to be very difficult to do. DNA of hominid species is very, very similar anyway - it’s going to be hard, especially with samples that may be damaged, to get definite genetic markers.
“Neanderthal’s did not breed with cromagnon man. Our DNA doesnt match Neanderthal’s DNA. Chimps do not breed with monkeys, or gorilla’s. So why would Neanderthal’s breed with Cromagnon man?”
??
Well, no-one knows if Neanderthal man was a separate species or just a sub race, and no-one knows how closely related our DNA and theirs is. That’s sort of what they are trying to find out here...
Horses can breed with donkeys -- you end up with an infertile mule. Perhaps they could breed, but with infertile offspring.
Are We Not Men???
(we are devo)
Are We Not Men!?!
(dee-ee-vee-oh)
Ungh!
Me barbarian!
I suppose they would need to create the DNA before they would feel a need to reconcile anything, if I understood what you were asking. I am not sure the reconstruction is an actual one and perhaps it will be in the form of a computer model?
I really don’t know why they feel they need to go to all this trouble. Mr. Fairview already exists; they could just study him. I promise you, there’s very little difference between Mr. Fairview and other Neanderthals except frequency of showers.
This is excellent news! Since some scientists seem hellbent on recreating dinosaurs from DNA, it’s only appropriate that we also have cavemen around who know how to deal with them.
BACK TO THE FUTURE! sez I
I was thinking more on the line of the images I remember of Barbara Bach in a fur bikini. Now that was a cave person.
Likewise, scientific belief does not constitute a religion, or faith, unto itself
John Kerry, paging Senator John Kerry ...
Rabbi Isaac of Acco remarkably calculated the universe’s age as 15 billion years old, in the 13th century. It’s only (some) Christians who seem to have a problem with an old universe/old earth.
doesnt literalism drive you nuts
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