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Updated: Dec 30, 2025
A Static Self-Directed Method for Generating Brain Organoids from Human Embryonic Stem Cells
Published on: March 4, 2020
Moral Limits of Brain Organoid Research
Julian J Koplin1, Julian Savulescu1
1Julian J. Koplin, Ph.D., is a Research Fellow with the Biomedical Ethics Research Group, Murdoch Children's Research Institute and Melbourne Law School, the University of Melbourne. He has a broad range of interests across the field of philosophical bioethics. Julian Savulescu, M.B., B.S., Ph.D., M.A., is Uehiro Chair in Practical Ethics, University of Oxford. He directs the Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics and co-directs the Wellcome Centre for Ethics and Humanities. He is Visiting Professorial Fellow in Biomedical Ethics at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Melbourne and Distinguished International Visiting Professor in Law at the University of Melbourne.
Abstract:
Brain organoid research raises ethical challenges not seen in other forms of stem cell research. Given that brain organoids partially recapitulate the development of the human brain, it is plausible that brain organoids could one day attain consciousness and perhaps even higher cognitive abilities. Brain organoid research therefore raises difficult questions about these organoids' moral status - questions that currently fall outside the scope of existing regulations and guidelines. This paper shows how these gaps can be addressed. We outline a moral framework for brain organoid research that can address the relevant ethical concerns without unduly impeding this important area of research.
