Greenlander's DNA Sequenced, After 5,000 Years 80
TinFinger writes "The genome of a 5,000-year-old man from Greenland has been sequenced from scalp hair remains. He belonged to the now-extinct Saqqaq, who are genetically more closely related to east Asians than to contemporary Native North Americans. Although both contemporary Inuit and the extinct Saqqaq migrated from Siberia across the Bering Straits, the Saqqaq migration was a much later one (5,000-10,000 years ago, compared with 20,000 for the Inuit). All that is left of the Saqqaq today are a few archaeological sites in Greenland. Genetic analysis revealed that 'Inuk' was stocky, possibly with a receding hairline, had a cold-adapted metabolism, A+ blood type, and possibly a rather bad haircut. The hair sample from which the DNA was sequenced was excavated in 1986 and was archived at the National Museum of Denmark. It was only recently rediscovered by a research team who spent a fruitless three months at Saqqaq sites looking for hair samples for genome analysis."
Re:and now for a god test (Score:5, Insightful)
Clone the guy and see if he is capable of learning and living in this more advanced human environment.
if he can then there will be a lot to say about god and darwin.
And what, exactly would that be? That modern-humans can learn and adapt behavior patterns from those around them? A human born within the last 5,000 years or so is not all that different, especially in terms of cranial capacity. So I would suspect that the individual would be able to learn at a reasonable rate compared to the rest of us and display the ability to follow social norms just as any other person.
Now, seeing whether or not this person's immune system could stand up to today's stronger viruses and engineered pharmaceuticals would be interesting. However, it might prove to be a very good case NOT to bring back archaic forms of life.
Re:immunity (Score:2)
Immunity is less inherited and more acquired. As long as the clone isn't raised as a bubble boy, (s)he will likely wind up with the same immunities as other contemporary humans in the same local environment.
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"Lots" might be a big exaggeration. I can think of one instance, and could anticipate others, but "lots"?
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Now, seeing whether or not this person's immune system could stand up to today's stronger viruses [..]
That experiment was run (unintentionally, the "infected blankets" story nonwithstanding) already, and wiped out most Native Americans, so no need to repeat that.
We pretty much know why, as well: The genetic bottleneck while crossing the Bering strait reduced their immune system complexity to a fraction of the happily mingling Eurasian/African population.
Re:and now for a god test (Score:4, Informative)
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So it seems that maybe we might still get something out of raising a genetically cloned baby and infecting it with H5N1 and SARS.
Add some lipstick and eyeliner and maybe PETA would finally be happy.
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considering some posters think humans and dinosaurs lived at the same time... its not a very bright crowd here.
The works of Julian Jaynes would find an interesting test with such a subject (clone of a 5000 year old person.)
While atheist in general seem to just out right deny anything godish in mans evolution a clone of 5000 years ago could most probably give additional proof of Julian work.
The Darwin evolution theory and the creationist theory are probably both wrong and the truth is some mix of the two.
Ima
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Because it's fabricated based on absolutely nothing unless you count misunderstandings of things we now understand better, if not almost completely.
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From the Wikipedia entry on Julian Jaynes:
"Julian Jaynes (February 27, 1920 – November 21, 1997) was an American psychologist, best known for his book The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind (1976), in which he argued that ancient peoples did not access consciousness (did not possess an introspective mind-space), but instead had their behavior directed by auditory hallucinations, which they interpreted as the voice of their chief, king, or the gods. Jaynes argued that the ch
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you're really not very bright to rely on wikipedia. Especially when you compare Julian credits against yours.
Try google findings and realize that as we find out more, Julian continues to get more and more verified.
Perhaps you might even try reading the book rather than showing your ignorance in claiming fiction.
There is a lot of research backing Julians work.
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A human born within the last 5,000 years or so is not all that different, especially in terms of cranial capacity
What is this, some kind of joke? The world is only 4000 years old.
Re:and now for a god test (Score:5, Interesting)
Clone the guy and see if he is capable of learning and living in this more advanced human environment.
5,000 years are not much of a difference. As it says in the article, the Innuit diverge from the "Eurasia" Genepool by more than 10,000 years, and the entire population of the Americas does as well. Though it would still be interesting if both populations had homologous adaptations to cold weather or already had them in Siberia.
if he can then there will be a lot to say about god and darwin.
No. Again, it is survival of the fittest, for whatever fitness function the environment, inter and intraspecies competition sets up for you.
What is being worked on is cloning a Neanderthal human, which went extinct about 50,000 years ago - some think we were the cause (well, "we" being what later became part of the European population). And some think homo neanderthalensis might have been smarter than homo sapiens, but again, fitness doesn't necessarily take that into account.
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What is being worked on is cloning a Neanderthal human
Really? I would love to see the ethical justification for that. Imagine setting out to create a disabled human being, just to see what they look like...
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And even if it results in a mentally challenged individual, that doesn't mean his life will be terrible. You know, disabled human beings exist here and now...
And for further ethical discussion, read all 990 comments from these experts here: Should We Clon [slashdot.org]
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No I mean that disabled humans have an unhappy life because they don't fit into our society as it stands. Many of them can't breed or drive a car for example. I am not claiming that a recreated Neanderthal would be disabled in any way but I do doubt that they would live their life in a way that suited them. I think it is more likely they would live in a zoo, and I wouldn't want to see that happen.
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unhappy life because they don't fit into our society as it stands. Many of them can't breed or drive a car for example.
So then all of /. is disabled??? I wonder if we file for disability or start a non-profit?
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calling a neanderthal disabled *human* doesn't make sense
I'm not. I was making an analogy. How would it feel to be the only Neanderthal on earth, unable to reproduce. If a community of Neanderthals was created, what would we humans do to them if they started breeding?
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Enslave them, duh! * Various religions will declare they don't have souls, thus making it acceptable, then we'll have a war of some sort, and that's where the various books tend to diverge, so prediction beyond that is murky at best.
*I'm not condoning it, it's just what I'd expect
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Since it's a man, you could do a xy neanderthal and then a xx neanderthal...
Then put them in a garden with some snakes and some fruit trees, and hidden loudspeakers...
Hmmmmm.... maybe clean up their regressive disease genes too...
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Reboot! Then we move to Mars and watch the action!
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Sounds like a Dan Simmons novel
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Thats already been done - its Pat Robertson
They'll be waking him up (Score:5, Funny)
The genome of a 5,000-year-old man from Greenland has been sequenced from scalp hair remains.
Next they'll be inserting DNA copies into fertilized eggs and spawning a new race of extinct human beings. Welcome to Saqqaq Park.
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5000 Years? (Score:5, Funny)
... pffft; CSI could have done it in 20 MINUTES!
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Great, now I'm imagining Abby raising a gothic neanderthal kid with tats and piercings.
That's the plot line for our new spin off show? Who the hell told you about this?
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25 if done in Miami or NYC.
25 minutes... A timeline - <puts on Sunglasses of Justice(TM) > - For murder!
YEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!
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But would they have used a Visual Basic GUI to do it?
Impressive... (Score:3, Interesting)
Still waiting for my mammoth (Score:2, Funny)
Wikipedia says mammoths died about 4,500 yrs ago so this should be do-able. Then I want it miniaturized like those chihuahua sized doberman pincher dogs so I can walk it around the block during winter.
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Then I want it miniaturized like those chihuahua sized doberman pincher dogs so I can walk it around the block during winter.
What happens if your mammoth doberhuahua decides that a bus is its mother?
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for extra freak the neighbor factor, have them splice in some of that glowing jellyfish gene, and walk in the winter at night. miniature ghost mammoths walking in the winter night!
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Genetic analysis reveals mullet?! (Score:2, Interesting)
Genetic analysis revealed that 'Inuk' was stocky, possibly with a receding hairline, had a cold-adapted metabolism, A+ blood type, and possibly a rather bad haircut.
I love how detailed genetic analyses are getting! :)
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Re:bad haircut? ugly? do not diss the mullet (Score:5, Funny)
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The trailer park breeding grounds around here indicate that the Mullet might be a slashdotters best chance. Have a car? Have money for pizza and beer? You're set!
Modern-day equivalent (Score:1)
So the modern-day equivalent of Inuk is an aging Canadian rock band star from Bachman Turner Overdrive?
He was 4,000 years old. (Score:4, Informative)
Not to nitpick, but come on. It's the first line of the article, guys.
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to nitpick even more, he *died* 4,000 years ago
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That's an additional factoid, though, and doesn't conflict. Thus, is superfluous.
5000 years old? (Score:2)
Worst comment ever. (Score:2)
Genetic analysis revealed that 'Inuk' was stocky, possibly with a receding hairline, had a cold-adapted metabolism, A+ blood type, and possibly a rather bad haircut.
So... comic book guy? [thestranger.com]
The cold blood must be a genetic adaptation from years of basement dwelling.
Prove of the closeness of races (Score:2)
--- Human Evolution [feeddistiller.com] Feed @ Feed Distiller [feeddistiller.com]
hold it there. (Score:3, Interesting)
Although both contemporary Inuit and the extinct Saqqaq migrated from Siberia across the Bering Straits, the Saqqaq migration was a much later one (5,000-10,000 years ago, compared with 20,000 for the Inuit).
Where did you get these age ranges? 20,000 years for the Inuit? Correct me if I'm wrong, but AFAIK, and except for tentative sites in Alaska, existing migratory evidence that we have today for the peopling of the Americas does not go back that far back in time. We believe that the people in Beringia were isolated between 10K and 20K, but we do not know precisely when they made the trek to the Americas.
Now, the linguistic and genetic evidence DO suggest that the peopling of the Americas started that far back in time as a whole. There are findings in Alaska, the establishment of the linguistic connection between the Na-Dene languages (.ie. Apache, Navajo) and the Yenisean languages, or sites like Monte Verde in Chile (which challenges the "Clovis First" theory).
But where is the combined evidence (archeological and genetic) that says the Inuit (or any extant New World group for that matter) came into the Americas as far back as 20,000?
Now, let's consider what the article says:
His ancestors split apart from Chukchis some 5,500 years ago, according to genetic calculations,
The Saqqaq split from the Chukchis about 5,500 years ago. That date alone does not provide any window by which to speculate when the Saqqaq entered into the Americas. They could have split off when they entered, say, a thousand years before. Or they could have split off after their common ancestor entered the Americas with the ancestors of the Chukchis moving back into Siberia. Purely speculative I know, but the models of migration does not preclude back-and-forth migration over the ice sheets/along the Beringian corridor (which if you think about it, it's very sensible and pausible.) Moreover, the ancestors of the Inuit and Saqqaq could have split off back in Siberia and way before their independent entrances into the Americas. I just don't see how TimFinger came up with this 10K-20K year range.
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But where is the combined evidence (archeological and genetic) that says the Inuit (or any extant New World group for that matter) came into the Americas as far back as 20,000?
Let me re-phrase the question, just so that there are no misunderstandings: is there any particular native group X in the Americas for which there is enough combined evidence (BOTH archeological and genetic) that can firmly clock their (either unique or last) trek and permanent move into the Americas to a date as far back as 20,000?