It is a challenge. The scientists behind the work believe that rats are not real humans. The team looked at rats with human cells to see if they were any smarter than rats without human cells. The goal of implanting human cells is to find out what happens in the human brain. There is a trade off here. The animals need to represent the things that happen in humans. Is it possible that the rats don't show any human behaviors? Jeantine Lunshof is a philosopher and ethicist at the Wyss Institute for Biologically-inspired Engineering at Harvard University.
Another question is raised by this. Is it possible that an animal is no longer a typical member of its species? There are many discussions about moral status. Humans have a higher moral status than other animals, and it's not acceptable to treat them the same way we treat animals in other contexts. The consensus is that our brains are larger and more complex than those of other animals, which makes us special. Our brains allow us to think, feel, dream, rationalize, form social bonds, plan our futures and more. Is it possible that rodents have the same experiences as humans? It's an important question for bioethicists and it's an important one to ask. If we are talking about humanizing the brains of non-human animals, by introducing human brain organoids and allowing them to integrate into the animal brain, I think we need to start thinking about whether this could have any follow on effect for the moral status. We have to be careful.
Rats are put into a region of their brains that helps them sense their environment. The question of how much of the rat's brain is made up of human cells should not be a problem. Bigger organoids might mean that the rat is more human at the cellular level, but that's not what's important The mental state of rats isn't just about how "human" they become, it's also about how they change. It's possible to have an animal that thinks in a different way than we do, but is susceptible to suffering, or is really intelligent. Rats have been the focus so far. If the organoids were put into monkeys, what would happen? Non-human primate brains are similar to ours, so they would be better models for studying human disease. There is a chance that you will create a humanized primate, according to a bioethicist at the National University of Singapore. Savulescu is worried about cloned animals. The cells that make up organoids are made from a person's genetic material. If a large chunk of a monkey's brain were made up of cells with an individual's genetic code, what would it look like? It would be a clone of an existing person. Savulescu says that this would be the bottom of an ethical slippery slope. It's not clear how to measure moral status or the point at which animals with human cells become special. It gives a lot of food for thought. Antonio Regalado wrote about researchers trying to grow human organs in pig and sheep. There is a goal to create new organs for people who need transplants. The pope gave his blessing to this type of research, according to a Spanish stem-cell Biologist. The Vatican denied the claim and called it completely false. According to El Pas, the same Biologist created embryos that were both human and monkey. The research was controversial. Hannah Thomasy explored eight technologies that help us understand the mysteries of the human brain and how we form memories. You can read more about how our brains make our minds in a piece from last year.
Could an algorithm help people who choose to end their own lives? The founder of this nonprofit thinks so. (MIT Technology Review)
There have been fewer monkeypox cases in the last few months. There are several possibilities from here.
Boosters have been approved for children as young as five years old.
Covid is an ongoing problem. Almost half of people who get sick with covid don't fully recover.
Watch this game of Pong. And then realize that it is being played by brain cells in a dish. (Neuron)
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