Donor perspectives on informed consent and use of biospecimens for brain organoid research

MacDuffie, Katherine E.; Stein, Jason L.; Doherty, Dan; Jayadev, Suman; Girault, Jessica B.; Emmons, Katherine; Glass, Madison R.; Dempsey, Jennifer C.; Marrus, Natasha; Botteron, Kelly N.; Dager, Stephen R.; Estes, Annette; Piven, Joseph; Wilfond, Benjamin S.

doi:10.1016/j.stemcr.2023.05.019

Cited by 8 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Regarding the generation and use of cerebral organoids in basic research and preclinical studies, the general legal requirements resulting from regulations on the use of stem cells and genetic engineering must be observed in particular [ 19 , 64 – 66 , 76 ]. Depending on the possibilities of generating and using cerebral organoids, the requirements for informed consent (e.g., concerning its specificity) for cell donation in this regard must also be defined [ 13 , 38 , 62 , 63 , 74 ].…”

Section: Regulation Of Optogeneticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ethics and regulation of neuronal optogenetics in the European Union

Faltus,

Freise,

Fluck

et al. 2023

Pflugers Arch - Eur J Physiol

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Neuronal optogenetics is a technique to control the activity of neurons with light. This is achieved by artificial expression of light-sensitive ion channels in the target cells. By optogenetic methods, cells that are naturally light-insensitive can be made photosensitive and addressable by illumination and precisely controllable in time and space. So far, optogenetics has primarily been a basic research tool to better understand the brain. However, initial studies are already investigating the possibility of using optogenetics in humans for future therapeutic approaches for neuronal based diseases such as Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy, or to promote stroke recovery. In addition, optogenetic methods have already been successfully applied to a human in an experimental setting. Neuronal optogenetics also raises ethical and legal issues, e.g., in relation to, animal experiments, and its application in humans. Additional ethical and legal questions may arise when optogenetic methods are investigated on cerebral organoids. Thus, for the successful translation of optogenetics from basic research to medical practice, the ethical and legal questions of this technology must also be answered, because open ethical and legal questions can hamper the translation. The paper provides an overview of the ethical and legal issues raised by neuronal optogenetics. In addition, considering the technical prerequisites for translation, the paper shows consistent approaches to address these open questions. The paper also aims to support the interdisciplinary dialogue between scientists and physicians on the one hand, and ethicists and lawyers on the other, to enable an interdisciplinary coordinated realization of neuronal optogenetics.

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Section: Regulation Of Optogeneticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ethics and regulation of neuronal optogenetics in the European Union

Faltus,

Freise,

Fluck

et al. 2023

Pflugers Arch - Eur J Physiol

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“…Towards this goal, researchers are generating in vitro brain organoids with cell-type diversity [ 3 , 4 ], areal identity [ 5–7 ], vasculature [ 8 ], and cytoarchitecture [ 9–11 ] that more closely resemble their in vivo counterparts, living human brains. These technological advances raise ethical questions about consent of donors [ 12 ], biobanking [ 13 ], medical and non-medical (e.g. computing) uses [ 14 ], commercialization and commodification [ 15 ], multi-stakeholder engagement [ 16 ], and governance [ 17 , 18 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moral considerability of brain organoids from the perspective of computational architecture

Boyd

2024

Oxford Open Neuroscience

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Human brain organoids equipped with complex cytoarchitecture and closed-loop feedback from virtual environments could provide insights into neural mechanisms underlying cognition. Yet organoids with certain cognitive capacities might also merit moral consideration. A precautionary approach has been proposed to address these ethical concerns by focusing on the epistemological question of whether organoids possess neural structures for morally-relevant capacities that bear resemblance to those found in human brains. Critics challenge this similarity approach on philosophical, scientific, and practical grounds but do so without a suitable alternative. Here, I introduce an architectural approach that infers the potential for cognitive-like processing in brain organoids based on the pattern of information flow through the system. The kind of computational architecture acquired by an organoid then informs the kind of cognitive capacities that could, theoretically, be supported and empirically investigated. The implications of this approach for the moral considerability of brain organoids are discussed.

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Brain Organoids and the Law

Iyer

2024

Collaborative Bioethics

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Donor perspectives on informed consent and use of biospecimens for brain organoid research

Cited by 8 publications

References 11 publications

Ethics and regulation of neuronal optogenetics in the European Union

Ethics and regulation of neuronal optogenetics in the European Union

Moral considerability of brain organoids from the perspective of computational architecture

Brain Organoids and the Law

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