Slashdot Mirror
Scientists To Grow 'Mini-Brains' Using Neanderthal DNA (theguardian.com)
Scientists will grow small amounts of tissue, known as brain organoids, from human stem cells that have been edited to contain "Neanderthalized" versions of several genes. "The lentil-sized organoids, which are incapable of thoughts or feelings, replicate some of the basic structures of an adult brain," reports The Guardian. "They could demonstrate for the first time if there were meaningful differences between human and Neanderthal brain biology." From the report: The latest work focuses on differences in three genes known to be crucial for brain development. Using the editing technique Crispr, changes have been introduced into human stem cells to make them closer to Neanderthal versions. The stem cells are coaxed using chemical triggers to become neurons, which spontaneously clump together and self-organize into miniature brain-like structures that grow to a few millimeters in diameter. The lack of any sensory input means the internal wiring is haphazard and varies from one blob to the next. The scientists will compare the Neanderthalized organoids and the fully human ones to assess the speed at which the stem cells divide, develop and organize into three-dimensional brain structures and whether the brain cells wire up differently. The work won't reveal which species is "smarter," but could hint at differences in the ability to plan, socialize and use language.
Usually accompanied by an ass bigger than their brain that even a goat could see.
How about spending money solving issues like corruption, disease and poverty?
This seems dangerous and offensive. There are no differences between any two brains. Everyone is the same and always was. Just because the Neanderthals get a bad narrative from the Patriarchy doesn't mean that everyone from Mediterranean Europe is inferior to those white privilege cro-mag ice people from the north. Even studying this should be illegal, because it may cause sensitive students to question the fact that every person is identical in every way.
Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
More Facebook users. Just what the world needs!
or just replicating the past?
The term "mini-brain" is rather deceptive because they measured in micrometers. The largest it will get is about 5mm.
Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
...building the perfect Congressman again, are we? Like that has worked out so well thus far...
mnem
But then, I repeat myself...
Who's that?
They had bigger brains than us.
If you want to grow and study some human brain tissue just do that. The minute one of your experiments communicates it isn't cool with it, THEN you have an ethical problem until then projecting human feelings and ethics on lumps of meat, protein, insects, and animals is just anthromorphic nonsense hindering progress.
How about spending money solving issues like corruption, disease and poverty?
The root cause of many social problems is too many stupid people.
The average inmate IQ is America's prisons is 89. It is even lower for violent offenders.
Smoking, obesity, and many other health issues are correlated with low intelligence.
Income differs by about $6000/yr for every 10 points above or below the mean IQ.
Better understanding of brain development is one of the most important things we can do to address these problems.
"Better understanding of brain development is one of the most important things we can do to address these problems."
I think that's an example of what he's talking about, a tendency to look for certain kinds of solutions at the detriment of other kinds when trying to help reduce things like poverty or corruption.
"The root cause of many social problems is too many stupid people"
Stupidity isn't more present at one IQ level than another, though it does play out differently at higher and lower IQs; and knowing that, how would one even start to justify that stupidity in the higher IQs is less of a causal factor behind poverty and corruption than stupidity in the lower IQs is.
And biology likes producing individual variability, the complexity generated is an important component of progress and biological evolution, moreover the internal complexities and dynamics of social exchanges imply inclusion is a default mode; so maybe we could put a little more resources into looking at why we have trouble reducing things like our promotion of dysfunctional developmental pathways and adversarial cultural ideologies.
New! Kellogg's Frosted Mini Brains
how would one even start to justify that stupidity in the higher IQs is less of a causal factor behind poverty and corruption than stupidity in the lower IQs is.
Because of overwhelming evidence. Low IQ is strongly correlated with both poverty and criminality. It may not be correlated with "corruption", but if we have fewer low IQ murderers and muggers, the police can focus more on high IQ embezzlers and bribers.
More intelligent voters may be a solution.
The root cause of many social problems is too many stupid people.
The root cause of "too many stupid people" is more interesting. Hold on a minute, I only have a 5 second attention span, it's time to watch Ow my balls.
We'll make great pets
Now where the fuck is money in that?
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
how would one even start to justify that stupidity in the higher IQs is less of a causal factor behind poverty and corruption than stupidity in the lower IQs is.
Because of overwhelming evidence. Low IQ is strongly correlated with both poverty and criminality. It may not be correlated with "corruption", but if we have fewer low IQ murderers and muggers, the police can focus more on high IQ embezzlers and bribers.
"Because of overwhelming evidence. Low IQ is strongly correlated with both poverty"
Yes, but I said how would you support the idea that there's a causal link not a correlation.
Supposing poverty is caused by marginalization and taking economic advantage of individuals with lower IQs for the benefit of individuals with higher IQs then poverty would be caused by individuals with higher IQs while still being correlated with individuals with lower IQs.
"More intelligent voters may be a solution."
Agreed, and things like better education, social inclusion, and better choices available throughout development, all lead to higher intelligence of voters and may be a part of the solution. Another big part is better politicians, better representation, better electoral systems, and better regulation of party financing.
"but it would still be solved by lower IQ people getting smarts as to not get taken advantage of by higher IQ people."
Yes maybe logically, but no because raising peoples IQs from lets say 70 to 120 doesn't work (or even 70 to 90), and even if you could a lot of people with high IQs can also easily be taken advantage. And maybe not being duped also has a lot to do with emotional 'reasoning'.
On getting 'smarts', 'taking candy from baby's' won't be solved by educating the 'baby', same for a lot of seniors. And in between, I'd guess everyone no matter the kind of smarts they have can be taken advantage of by other individuals with the right a kind of smarts, and this no matter the IQs of the con-person and their victim.
So I don't think a rise in peoples ability to 'not be taken advantage of' through education is a better part of a solution than reducing the degree to which we educate individuals with the idea that taking advantage of others is ok, can be deserved by the 'victim', and can even be worthy of praise.