The Ethics of Cerebral Organoid Research: Being Conscious of Consciousness

Recently, the use of three-dimensional neural tissues cultured in vitro and called "cerebral organoids" has advanced recapitulation of neural development and disease modeling studies. Along with such advances, cerebral organoid research, and associated concerns call for the elucidation of two points: (1) how cerebral organoid research is currently progressing and the future directions it is likely to take, especially in functional assessment of organoids, and (2) how we should solve ethical issues of possible consciousness in cerebral organoid research. This paper aims first to explore these two issues, and then to present implications and prospects for future cerebral organoid research.