Human Brain Organoids and Consciousness
Open accessAbstract
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 w hat 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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There is debate about the presence or possibility of consciousness in nonhuman animals, neural organoids, AI systems, and xenobots.
“There is also debate about the presence or possibility of consciousness in nonhuman animals [16 -21], neural organoids [22 -24], AI systems [25 -29], and xenobots [30,31].”
From Tests for consciousness in humans and beyond (2024) · cites this paper as [24]
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Tests for consciousness in humans and beyond
Bayne, T., Seth, A. K., Massimini, M., Shepherd, J., Cleeremans, A., Fleming, S. M., Malach, R., Mattingley, J. B., Menon, D. K., Owen, A. M., et al. (2024) · Trends in Cognitive Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.tics.2024.01.010 · Cited by 163 · see citing works
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- Authors
- Niikawa, T., Hayashi, Y., Shepherd, J., & Sawai, T.
- Affiliations
- Kobe University (JP)
- Saitama Medical University (JP)
- Carleton University (CA)
- Kyoto University (JP)
- Corresponding author
- Niikawa, Takuya
- Venue
- Neuroethics
- Published
- 2022-02-04
- Volume
- 15
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 5
- ISSN
- 1874-5490 (ISSN-L)
- 1874-5504
- OpenAlex
- W4210548868
- Cited by
- 79
- References
- 13
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 39 · 2023: 20 · 2022: 3
- FWCI
- 9.15
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Update notices
- correction (2022-02-28)
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Locations
- Neuroethics (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Institutional Repositories DataBase (IRDB) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Institutional Repositories DataBase (IRDB) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Kobe University Repository Kernel (Kobe University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Kyoto University Research Information Repository (Kyoto University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- Canadian Institute for Advanced Research
- Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (20K00001, 21K12908, 21K00011, 19K00016)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neuroethics, Human Enhancement, Biomedical Innovations
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Philosophy and Theoretical Science
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Biomedical Ethics and Regulation
- Keywords
- human brain organoids, consciousness, precautionary principle, moral considerations, human pluripotent stem cells, ethical frameworks
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