Researchers from Japan’s Hiroshima University (HU) and Taipei Medical University (TMU) have called for regulations on human brain organoid research and applications.
“Human brain organoids are three-dimensional neural tissues derived from stem cells that can mimic some aspects of the human brain,” an HU news release published on Thursday said.
More than 55 million people around the world have dementia — that is one person every three seconds, a WHO report showed.
Photo: Denis Balibouse, Reuters
In Taiwan, one in every 13 people aged 65 or older and one in five people aged 80 or older have dementia.
While human brain organoid research could bring fresh hope to people with dementia or other brain diseases, researchers from HU and TMU looked into its potential challenges, and proposed a legal and ethical framework to regulate the development of human brain organoids in a research published in the Journal of Bioethical Inquiry last month.
HU’s Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences professor Tsutomu Sawai led the research and proposed five aspects of human brain organoids that could cause legal concerns: consciousness, legal status, consent, ownership and transplantation.
“One of the most-debated concerns is whether human brain organoids could become conscious,” the HU news release said.
Further discussion from an ethical and legal perspective is needed, Sawai said.
His research team is to hold a seminar on the issue at the National University of Singapore on Nov. 11 and 12.
Some researchers have been growing cerebral organoids to explore brain mechanisms such as neural development and disease formation, TMU’s Graduate Institute of Health and Biotechnology Law associate professor Lee Tsung-ling (李崇菱) said, who also participated in the research.
However, ethical concerns remain as brain organoids might become “conscious,” she said, adding that legal regulations still fall behind technological development.
For example, ownership disputes could arise between donors and researchers over the brain organoid research development and outcomes, Lee said.
Although human brain organoids are regarded as “property” just like regular human organs, they could be defined as a judicial person if they are integrated into an artificial intelligence system, she said.
Legal and ethical challenges could also emerge if the brain organoids are transplanted into living animal bodies or human bodies for further experiments and research, Lee added.
Additional reporting by CNA
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