Against the Precautionary Approach to Moral Status: The Case of Surrogates for Living Human Brains

Żuradzki, Tomasz

doi:10.1080/15265161.2020.1845868

Cited by 36 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…However, non-X entities can be harmed by X being treated as having consciousness [51,52]. For instance, if the use of X for scientific experiments is prohibited due to the assumption that X has consciousness and the prohibition is significantly disadvantageous for pharmaceutical research, treating X as having consciousness may cause much harm to patients who would otherwise benefit from the pharmaceutical research on X.…”

Section: The Precautionary Principle About Consciousnessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human Brain Organoids and Consciousness

et al. 2022

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This article proposes a methodological schema for engaging in a productive discussion of ethical issues regarding human brain organoids (HBOs), which are three-dimensional cortical neural tissues created using human pluripotent stem cells. Although moral consideration of HBOs significantly involves the possibility that they have consciousness, there is no widely accepted procedure to determine whether HBOs are conscious. Given that this is the case, it has been argued that we should adopt a precautionary principle about consciousness according to which, if we are not certain whether HBOs have consciousness—and where treating HBOs as not having consciousness may cause harm to them—we should proceed as if they do have consciousness. This article emphasizes a methodological advantage of adopting the precautionary principle: it enables us to sidestep the question of whether HBOs have consciousness (the whether-question) and, instead, directly address the question of what kinds of conscious experiences HBOs can have (the what-kind-question), where the what-kind-question is more tractable than the whether-question. By addressing the what-kind-question (and, in particular, the question of what kinds of valenced experiences HBOs can have), we will be able to examine how much moral consideration HBOs deserve. With this in mind, this article confronts the what-kind-question with the assistance of experimental studies of consciousness and suggests an ethical framework which supports restricting the creation and use of HBOs in bioscience.

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Section: The Precautionary Principle About Consciousnessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human Brain Organoids and Consciousness

et al. 2022

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“…Further, authors have written that cognitively advanced brain organoids might acquire some degree of moral status [ 44 , 46 , 47 , 49 , 54 , 57 , 63 – 65 , 71 , 78 , 79 , 81 , 82 , 84 , 88 , 90 , 92 ] when they develop consciousness. Although different perspectives exist on how to conceptualize consciousness and on its role in the attribution of moral status [ 88 , 90 , 92 ], it is generally acknowledged that when an entity has interests, it has moral status [ 46 , 47 , 82 ].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Organoids: a systematic review of ethical issues

Jongh

Massey

Berishvili³

et al. 2022

Stem Cell Res Ther

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Organoids are 3D structures grown from pluripotent stem cells derived from human tissue and serve as in vitro miniature models of human organs. Organoids are expected to revolutionize biomedical research and clinical care. However, organoids are not seen as morally neutral. For instance, tissue donors may perceive enduring personal connections with their organoids, setting higher bars for informed consent and patient participation. Also, several organoid sub-types, e.g., brain organoids and human–animal chimeric organoids, have raised controversy. This systematic review provides an overview of ethical discussions as conducted in the scientific literature on organoids. The review covers both research and clinical applications of organoid technology and discusses the topics informed consent, commercialization, personalized medicine, transplantation, brain organoids, chimeras, and gastruloids. It shows that further ethical research is needed especially on organoid transplantation, to help ensure the responsible development and clinical implementation of this technology in this field.

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“…It is also important to avoid oversimplifying the interpretation of precautionary measures. Assuming that brain organoids possess morally significant consciousness also carries risks (Żuradzki, 2021 ). For example, treating brain organoids with excessive ethical rigor could significantly stagnate research, with adverse long-term consequences for human health.…”

Section: Proposals For the Consent Proceduresmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Donation of Human Biological Material for Brain Organoid Research: The Problems of Consciousness and Consent

Kataoka,

Gyngell,

Savulescu

et al. 2024

Sci Eng Ethics

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Human brain organoids are three-dimensional masses of tissues derived from human stem cells that partially recapitulate the characteristics of the human brain. They have promising applications in many fields, from basic research to applied medicine. However, ethical concerns have been raised regarding the use of human brain organoids. These concerns primarily relate to the possibility that brain organoids may become conscious in the future. This possibility is associated with uncertainties about whether and in what sense brain organoids could have consciousness and what the moral significance of that would be. These uncertainties raise further concerns regarding consent from stem cell donors who may not be sufficiently informed to provide valid consent to the use of their donated cells in human brain organoid research. Furthermore, the possibility of harm to the brain organoids raises question about the scope of the donor’s autonomy in consenting to research involving these entities. Donor consent does not establish the reasonableness of the risk and harms to the organoids, which ethical oversight must ensure by establishing some measures to mitigate them. To address these concerns, we provide three proposals for the consent procedure for human brain organoid research. First, it is vital to obtain project-specific consent rather than broad consent. Second, donors should be assured that appropriate measures will be taken to protect human brain organoids during research. Lastly, these assurances should be fulfilled through the implementation of precautionary measures. These proposals aim to enhance the ethical framework surrounding human brain organoid research.

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Against the Precautionary Approach to Moral Status: The Case of Surrogates for Living Human Brains

Cited by 36 publications

References 7 publications

Human Brain Organoids and Consciousness

Human Brain Organoids and Consciousness

Organoids: a systematic review of ethical issues

The Donation of Human Biological Material for Brain Organoid Research: The Problems of Consciousness and Consent

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