In the race to decode the human genome, scientists have long developed the tools that allow them to read and influence the building blocks of life. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute are able to decode the genome of Neanderthals and compare it with the human genome. Synthetic biology is no longer just practiced in university laboratories anymore. The next step could be for scientists to bring extinct species back to life – maybe even Neanderthals. Things that aren’t ethically defensible today could become normal in the future.