just a thought, nothing big really.

I think the inability to procreate idea plays a much bigger role than we know, I'm convinced something is up with the Engineers losing the ability to procreate, and the harvesting of genetics. Genetics/certain abilities and traits passing on to the next generation, or step in a life cycle. That would be why it was such a big deal that Shaw was born infertile, something inherited from the genetics. Women showed up in our species, and in our myths the first men and angels were all male. Eve was taken from Adams rib/genetics and showed up in our species... If we're a copy of them, then they must have the x chromosome in them (although it could be repressed somehow like Vickers was by King Weyland) -- which leads to the possibility of Engineer females once existing, or that they started hermaphroditic like worms and aliens. Weyland was all about creating the perfect artificial son, he didn't want Vickers in charge of the company because he preferred having a son, but never got one. Had to create one. It was all about kings and the lineage/Weyland legacy/bloodline for him... We see that there are many symbols of death and rebirth. The aliens in other movies have been shown to be able to regenerate cells. In Alien, when Ash makes the incision the face hugger heals itself after leaking acid. The facehugger almost has a little bit of immortality, through regeneration of cells. Which could be what Weyland was actually after all along, although he didn't know it. The Hammerpede can instantly re-grow its head, which is in contrast to the death/decapitation themes that involve the head, and are littered throughout the film and android themes from other movies. The Engineer head is brought back to life temporarily. There are pieces of immortality in the movie, but like Egyptian mythology and scarabs, it's all about death and rebirth. Regeneration of cells, re-attaching the android head to the body. Androids might not feel physical pain completely, "The trick is not minding that it hurts" when you suffer an injury that can be repaired. If David convinces Shaw to reattach his head, David really is one of the most immortal things we've seen so far... That's why I do tend to agree the Alien was sacrificed, broken down, and then stored in the ampules to be prepared to be re-born. Re-weaponized, given another life and new life, after breaking down to such a level. In a way thematically similar to how the organs were harvested out by Egyptians and put into canopic jars to prepare things for the afterlife. ideas about achieving immortality through re-generating and death and rebirth.. Maybe immortality for some species is all about being able to lie dormant between cycles and to be able to go through a rebirth process. Dying and coming back after the sacrifice, like with Christ. The alien genetics were broken down, but then given a rebirth. When there is no environment it can go dormant, being able to be activated by environments, and able to hybridize with everything to steal the "perfect" traits of every organism human, alien worm, or otherwise that it comes into contact with. being shaped by its own genetics as well as the genetics of other beings, and the environment it is born into, ultimately determining how the hive turns out.. A sort of nature and nurture thing contributing to the aliens. In psychology, Freud believed we all want to kill our parents and replace them, but maybe it is more like a mixture of nature and nurture that determines dormant and active genes, intelligence, phenotype/appearance, characteristics, personality, and gender... We know the aliens are intelligent, but maybe there intelligence levels and outward appearance are both determined by what they come from, and the environment. This would tie into some of the psychological themes David brings up.

@hiveminded.I like the idea of the xenos having the key to immortalitly. Maybe that what the humans are for, as grass is for cows, humans are for xenos. The human race is just a media source for xenos. Since we are closely related to the engineers, that would make mankind perfect to use as xeno media. With the combination xeno/human both with similar DNA to the engineers. The resultng Xeno could by some process have the 'immortalitly gene' or 'regeneration gene' extracted. An expansion to the TP. Perhaps the environment of LV223 could be the reason that the engineers decided to place their base there. An ideal place the use the outside environment to cultivate the xeno.

If the Hammerpede genetics/facehugger genetics do allow regeneration of wounds, maybe not everyone in the company was after the alien for bioweapon purposes in the original movies, like Ripley suspected. Ash called it the perfect organism and mentions how it heals itself. We've actually seen Weyland corp wanting the bio-weapon for medical purposes now, although it was in the form of Weyland's desire to extend his lifespan. Weyland was seeking immortality, and manipulated the crew to try to get it for himself, but didn't originally intend to go after the alien genetics for bio-weapon purposes. During this mission might have been when the androids/company learned that there was only death on LV-223, and about the bio-weapon capabilities of the genetics. David never saw the creature regenerate its own head, so he might not know about the medical side of things. I think it was Burke or the real Bishop who said there could be medical applications. Weyland corp might not be lying, the Hammerpede could re-grow its own head, so if we can somehow harvest the Aliens' genetics, which the Engineers failed to master, then we can become immortal as a species. We'd not only control the bio-weapons, but also be able to upgrade our own genetics. If someday an Alien 5 movie happens, then maybe there were tests done to try to take samples of the hybridized genetics out of Ripley 2-8. They'd have to have some way to put the immortality into action, and cloning itself is a little bit like immortality. Death/rebirth themes from Prometheus make Alien Resurrection a much better movie to me now. things like the Ripley clone not having all her memories and feeling the alien genetics moving behind her eyes interest me more now, she had some memories/nightmares of newt. I think the subconscious and the concept of collective consciousness might be important, and that the alien genetics develop a sort of hive mind. The queen could tell her drones/warriors what to do, and Ripley 8 almost shared a telepathic bond with the Queen in Alien Resurrection because of her genetics. She became a faster, stronger, warrior who bled acid blood and healed herself by being hybridized with the alien genetics. But she lacked all the memories of the original Ripley... How was Weyland planning to make himself immortal if he did find immortality? Did Weyland have clues that he might find it there that we don't know about? Weyland corp wasn't originally after only the bioweapon component, they did originally want the medical benefits too like some characters in the original movies tried to claim, but there could have been dual motives. David and Shaw found that there was only death there, but maybe the key to regenerating life was in trapped in the Hammerpede's genetics and black goo. If Weyland simply cloned himself or hybridized himself with genetics he might end up like Ripley 8, and lose his memory. So since he was dying, if he thought he could actually find immortality and use it shortly after to fix himself, he might have had some sort of plan. In the scene that was planned/scrapped with him on the Yacht in dreamspace he is almost controlling the fantasy... He would have appeared as a young man again in his dreams... He would have appeared as Guy Pearce from around the time of the Ted Talk, surrounded by beautiful women... that might be his Paradise... the chemical reactions that happen as we die and that are released when we dream before we actually cross over to where ever it is we go after we see visions of the light at the end of the tunnel. Weyland says "there's nothing" when he dies. I think his mind already used up its last releases of chemicals when he was in hypersleep, and his subconscious desire was to become young again, because he could talk to David from hypersleep, was aware in his dream...And could control the dreamstate. Weyland may have had some influence over how he appeared in his dream, I think that scene with Weyland on the Yacht would have told us too much... That Weyland's mind is already sort of on backup in cyberspace/dreamspace, and Pearce may be back to his younger self sooner or later once he clones it a body. Perhaps that nightmares/dreams are more real than we think, more like desires, memories, etc and hold a lot more meaning/ were planted in Ripley's head to control her, too. Tying in with some of the psychological themes David brings u, subconscious desires like what Freud would talk about with us all wanting to kill our parents.

Some Interesting ideas... Yes the Xeno could have medical implications. But my view of what went on in Alien was that the Hammerpedes was able to regrow its head, as they came from Worms which can do the same thing. And that the Xeno DNA Goo is able to mutate a lifeform and pass on Xeno Traits while keeping the Original Organisms traits but only its strongest ones and evolve them to be greater.. i.e the Worms now heal and regenerate at a much faster pace.. Saying that Ash did say the life form can regenerate, but we do not see the Organism, do so at the speed the Hamerpede did. Also Ripley 8 was able to Regenerate, so who knows what the true connection could be. Which is where maybe the Hamerpedes being the predecessor to the Xeno could come in..... but how if the events of Prometheus are only 25 years prior to Alien.... Well maybe as the Worms are native to LV 223 they would have been on LV 223 for hundreds, thousands or millions of years.. its doubtful they came from Prometheus. So the chances are that we cant rule out that those worms well some others have never been in contact with the Goo in the past. You see if the same substance in the Ampules is in each one in that room or indeed on LV 223, i.e same as what outbreak was 2000 years ago. Then if that same Goo mutated the Worms Equally.. remember we saw at least 2 Hammerpedes that was identical. Then surely the same Goo coming into contact with the same type Worms be thats 2000 years ago, 10'000 etc etc would yield the same result. Thus as Lindeloff hinted that the Xeno could be related to the Hamerpedes, he may mean via Worms and Goo from before and not the ones created on LV 223 in the year 2093