{"id":51448,"date":"2017-11-09T06:11:01","date_gmt":"2017-11-09T06:11:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=51448"},"modified":"2017-11-09T06:11:01","modified_gmt":"2017-11-09T06:11:01","slug":"scientists-implant-tiny-human-brains-rats-spark-ethical-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/health\/scientists-implant-tiny-human-brains-rats-spark-ethical-debate.html","title":{"rendered":"Scientists implant tiny human brains into rats, spark ethical debate"},"content":{"rendered":"

Scientists implant tiny human brains into rats, spark ethical debate<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Scientists implant tiny human brains into rats, spark ethical debate:- After several labs successfully implanted human brain organoids into rats, many scientists are questioning the ethical implications of the experiment, STAT News reports.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nearly four years ago, scientists in Vienna discovered that they could create organoids \u2013 lentil-sized blobs of human brain tissue \u2013 from stem cells. The revolutionary discovery has helped advance research on human brain development, Alzheimer\u2019s, and Zika virus.<\/span><\/p>\n

These human brain organoids existed solely in test tubes, until this past weekend, when two teams of neuroscientists reported successfully implanting these cells into the brains of rats and mice.<\/span><\/p>\n

The scientists also observed neurological activity \u2013 when they shone a light in the rodent\u2019s eyes, connected neurons lit up in the implanted organoid.<\/span><\/p>\n

Other labs reported connecting the human brain organoids to blood vessels in the rodents.<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite the discovery\u2019s potential medical contributions, many scientists are questioning the ethics of this controversial experiment.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt brings up some pretty interesting questions about what allows us, ethically, to do research on mice in the first place \u2014 namely, that they\u2019re not human,\u201d biologist Josephine Johnston of The Hastings Center told STAT News. \u201cIf we give them human cerebral organoids, ‘what does that do to their intelligence, their level of consciousness, even their species identity?\u201d\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

Currently, the restrictions on such experimentation are blurry and the National Institutes of Health has issued no ban on implanting human brain organoids.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are entering totally new ground here,\u201d said Christof Koch, president of the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle in an interview with STAT News. \u201cThe science is advancing so rapidly, the ethics can\u2019t keep up.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

While skeptics question the future consequences of creating more human-like rodents, other scientists believe that the research is not yet advanced enough to create an ethical or moral dilemma.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSome of what people warn about is still science fiction,\u201d Dr. Isaac Chen, a neurosurgeon at the University of Pennsylvania, said. \u201cRight now, the organoids are so crude we probably decrease the rats\u2019 brain function.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Chen believes that organoid experimentation is invaluable, as it could be used to treat brain injury, stroke and potentially, schizophrenia and autism.<\/span><\/p>\n

Legal Scholar and bioethicist at Stanford University Hank Greely says that even though these organoids are extremely restricted within the confines of a small mouse brain, scientists still must consider the rights of something \u201chuman-ish\u201d and determine what that means.<\/span><\/p>\n

At this point, scientists doubt that these organoids could create the feeling of \u201ca human trapped in a rodent\u2019s body,\u201d but some believe that an eventual \u2018Frankenstein\u2019 situation is not entirely unlikely.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAt some future point, it could be that what you\u2019ve built is entitled to some kind of respect,\u201d Greely said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Noting Mary Shelley\u2019s novel, Greely added, \u201cI think that story is relevant to what we\u2019re talking about.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-\u00a0http:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/science\/2017\/11\/08\/scientists-implant-tiny-human-brains-into-rats-spark-ethical-debate.html<\/span><\/p>\n

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