Full Description
Brain organoids are small stem cell-derived, self-organizing models of specific brain regions that offer researchers new ways to study the human brain. Since their scientific debut over ten years ago, brain organoids have been used to generate tractable new bioengineered tools for understanding functional interconnectivity of the human brain, dysfunction involved in many neurodegenerative diseases, and certain molecular mechanisms underlying cognition.
Despite this field's considerable scientific promise, advances in human brain organoid research also raise novel philosophical questions and ethical concerns around the use of complex human brain models and the ethical boundaries that should exist when manipulating increasingly realistic bioengineered brain constructs. As researchers generate more realistic organoids in vitro that resemble human brains, it is critically important to understand what ethical boundaries may exist and where researchers and regulators should draw the line for research, both to reduce uncertainties over which projects to pursue in the lab and to address future concerns regulators and the public may harbor about whether this research, if left unexamined, could inadvertently undermine public trust in science. This proposed book delves into ongoing and proactive ethical discussions among ethicists and the neuroscientists involved with this cutting-edge work. Its ultimate goal is to foster greater awareness, understanding, and guidance for future management of ethical issues that may be unique to new areas of brain organoid research. This volume is the result of a close partnership between ethicists and scientists, each informing the other through a collaborative process of joint bioethical deliberation.
Contents
Introduction.- Current Trends in Brain Organoid Research: Scientific Opportunities and Challenges.- No Need to Worry About Consciousness in Brain Organoids.- Brain-likeness? Empty or Full Makes the Difference.- The Brainstorm Organoid Project: A Collaboration of Bioethics and Neuroscience to Advance Brain Organoid Research.- Collaborative Bioethics in Action: A Guide for Successful Collaborative Workshops.- What Would It Take to Put a Philosopher in Every Scientific Laboratory?.- A Proposed Review Guide for the Oversight of Brain Organoid Research.- The Ethics of Transplanting Brain Organoids into Neonatal Animals.- Ambassador-Mediated Public Engagement: A Responsible and Realistic Scientific Public Engagement Framework.- Brain Organoids and the Law.- Organoid Computing: Leveraging Organoid Neural Networks for Artificial Intelligence.
