The three layers of the Neandertal cake

I assume by now that everyone has read A Draft Sequence of the Neandertal Genome. It's free to all, so you should. At least look at the figures. Also, if you haven't at least skimmed the supplement, you should do that as well. It's nearly 200 pages, and basically feels more like a collection of minimally edited papers than anything else. There's no point in me reviewing the paper, since you can read it, and plenty of others have hit the relevant ground already. Since there seem to be three main segments of the paper, here are a few minimal thoughts on each. First, the draft genome. What would you have said if someone came up to you ten years ago and told you that you'd live to to see this? Svante Paabo himself admitted he didn't think he'd see something like this in his lifetime. There was a lot ...