Collection
Neural Organoid Research: Ethics and Governance
Rapid developments in the field of research on neural organoids, assembloids and chimeras have captured the public’s imagination and given rise to an intensive ethical debate that continues to grow. Whether the ethical, epistemic, legal and social aspects of research on neural organoids necessitate specific and novel ethical oversight and governance approaches is still not settled and in need of further scrutiny. This topical collection invites researchers from a broad range of disciplines to contribute to a better understanding of the ethical, legal and social challenges and epistemic conundrums related to recent developments and future perspectives of neural organoid research. Possible topics include but are not limited to:
Ethical aspects
- the moral status of neural organoids and possible implications for how to handle, store and dispose of them
- the source material for human neural organoids
- informed consent of donors and research participants
- transplantation of human neural organoids in human patients or nonhuman animals
- commercialization
- the use of neural organoids for personalized or regenerative medicine
- the potential of human neural organoids to replace or reduce the number of animals used in medical research and toxicology tests
- should human cerebral organoids be implanted into animals and, if so, how should human-animal-chimeras be ethically and legally evaluated?
- allocation of scarce resources for biomedical research and health care
Epistemic aspects
- conceptualizing and detecting consciousness or sentience arising in neural organoids and chimeras, especially as they increase in size and complexity
- theoretical underpinnings and experimental practice of organoid research, e.g., the role of models, the notion of self-organization
- how does the brain (organoid) relate to the mind and personhood?
Legal aspects
- legal and regulatory frameworks for neural organoid research
- how foreseeable developments may impact laws and regulations
- how should research on human cerebral organoids be regulated? Is there a need for organoid-specific ethics oversight?
- property and usage rights on cellular material and organoids, data protection issues
Social Aspects
- criteria for safety and efficacy of envisaged therapies against the backdrop of epistemic uncertainties
- the accessibility and just distribution of possible therapeutic applications
- the role of the bioeconomy in the extraction and circulation of biomaterials for neural organoid research and application
- science communication, media representations and public understanding of neural organoid research
- attitudes of researchers and other stakeholders to neural organoid research
Further topics
- studies of ethical, legal and social issues at the interface of research on neural organoids and artificial intelligence
- ethical issues concerning the use of genome editing in neural organoid research
- current state, future prospects, and historical development of brain organoid research
- possible implications of future developments of neural organoid research for human self-understanding and interpersonal relationships more broadly
The initial papers committed to the topical collection stem from an international and interdisciplinary research retreat on “Ethical, legal and social aspects of human cerebral organoids and their governance in Germany, the U.K. and the U.S.A.”, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).
Editors
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Robert Ranisch
Robert Ranisch is Junior Professor of Medical Ethics with a Focus on Digitization at the Faculty of Health Sciences Brandenburg, University of Potsdam, and head of the research unit "Ethics of Genome Editing" at the Institute for Ethics and History of Medicine, University of Tübingen.
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Anja Pichl
Anja Pichl is research associate at the Junior Professorship of Medical Ethics with a Focus on Digitization at the Faculty of Health Sciences Brandenburg, University of Potsdam.
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Garðar Árnason
Garðar Ágúst Árnason, Ph.D., is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Akureyri, Iceland. He has held posts at universities in the U.K., Finland, and Germany, teaching and conducting research in philosophy with a focus on ethics. He has organised and participated in numerous research projects, most of which are related to ethical issues in genetics or neuroscience. His research interests include ethics, philosophy of education, and philosophy of science.
