The welfare of brain organoids [version 1; peer review: 2 approved]: [version 1; peer review: awaiting peer review]
The welfare of brain organoids [version 1; peer review: 2 approved]: [version 1; peer review: awaiting peer review]
One of the most urgent challenges arising in bioethics has been the ethical assessment of the use of brain organoids, largely because of the possibility of sentience and the potential that if they can feel, then they might suffer. But while there is a growing literature on the possibility of sentience in brain organoids and why we should take a precautionary approach towards them, there is very little guidance on what it would mean to protect their welfare. In this paper, we address this omission by exploring the question of what the welfare of an organoid might be like, and how we could scientifically assess this question. As we will show, these are difficult questions to answer, given the current lack of empirical data on many of the important features of brain organoids, but we will provide some principled empirically-informed speculation on possible answers, as well as suggestions for future research directions.
Browning, Heather
8d13aa04-7648-4403-b29c-11f7674f6618
Veit, Walter
8137e8be-a04c-41c6-979e-87fe1a4010be
Browning, Heather
8d13aa04-7648-4403-b29c-11f7674f6618
Veit, Walter
8137e8be-a04c-41c6-979e-87fe1a4010be
Browning, Heather and Veit, Walter
(2023)
The welfare of brain organoids [version 1; peer review: 2 approved]: [version 1; peer review: awaiting peer review].
Molecular Psychology, 2 (4).
(doi:10.12688/molpsychol.17523.1).
Abstract
One of the most urgent challenges arising in bioethics has been the ethical assessment of the use of brain organoids, largely because of the possibility of sentience and the potential that if they can feel, then they might suffer. But while there is a growing literature on the possibility of sentience in brain organoids and why we should take a precautionary approach towards them, there is very little guidance on what it would mean to protect their welfare. In this paper, we address this omission by exploring the question of what the welfare of an organoid might be like, and how we could scientifically assess this question. As we will show, these are difficult questions to answer, given the current lack of empirical data on many of the important features of brain organoids, but we will provide some principled empirically-informed speculation on possible answers, as well as suggestions for future research directions.
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b6c49b86-a234-4527-87f9-abf7db14ee39_17523_-_heather_browning
- Author's Original
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e-pub ahead of print date: 3 May 2023
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Local EPrints ID: 477916
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/477916
PURE UUID: 900d1e76-5cb3-4c8d-9fe2-2aa5655d2c45
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Date deposited: 16 Jun 2023 16:37
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 04:15
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Author:
Heather Browning
Author:
Walter Veit
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