The main question that we are investigating with this project is how Neanderthals look,
genetically, compared to humans and other primates.
What makes it possible, and what really makes it interesting, is the technological advances
that have happened that allow us to recover this DNA that's 38,000 years old
and get some sequence from this.
Are there any genes that come from Neanderthal in humans today?
Are there any genes from modern humans in Neanderthal?
Was there any admixture between the two?
And one final question that we would like to ask is:
When did the evolutionary changes that are specific to modern humans--
that are unique to us compared to all other of the animals of the world--when did these evolve?
And using the Neanderthal, we can get some resolution on this
that is impossible to get from any organism that's living today.
So, in some sense, the most important contribution of the Neanderthal genome
will not be telling us something about Neanderthals,
but rather will be telling us something about modern humans.