Im a little worried that the topic may be poised to lose attention just at the moment that it should receive more intensive effort. What incentives will there be to generate data from Neandertals?
Today, we enjoy open access to genetic data from Neandertal specimens after they have been reported — a wonderful situation compared to other kinds of data in paleoanthropology. But that policy is the product of a unique ecology — one in which data are continually easier to obtain and replicate, and in which each technical advance gives a great payoff in terms of publications and attention. Will the ecology continue? I don’t have an answer. The current players in Neandertal genetics have done a wonderful job, and have advanced the ecosystem in a way that allows outside analysts — like me — to do good work. But more than anything, I’m concerned that the sequencing technology will move away from methods that make ancient DNA easier and easier to obtain. For the past several years, ancient DNA and human genetics methods have moved in parallel. Neandertal genetics has benefited greatly from technologies that have been widely applied for humans and other organisms. But if these methods
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