Patentability of Brain Organoids derived from iPSC – A Legal Evaluation with Interdisciplinary Aspects
AbstractBrain Organoids in their current state of development are patentable. Future brain organoids may face some challenges in this regard, which I address in this contribution. Brain organoids unproblematically fulfil the general prerequisites of patentability set forth in Art. 3 (1) EU-Directive 98/44/EC (invention, novelty, inventive step and susceptibility of industrial application). Patentability is excluded if an invention makes use of human embryos or constitutes a stage of the human body in the individual phases of its formation and development. Both do not apply to brain organoids, unless ES-cells are used. Art....
Source: Neuroethics - January 18, 2024 Category: Medical Ethics Source Type: research
What (if anything) morally separates environmental from neurochemical behavioral interventions?
AbstractDrawing from the literatures on the ethics of nudging and moral bioenhancement, I elaborate several pairs of cases in which one intervention is classified as an environmental behavioral intervention (EBI) and the other as a neurochemical behavioral intervention (NBI) in order to morally compare them. The intuition held by most is that NBIs are by far the more morally troubling kind of influence. However, if this intuition cannot be vindicated, we should at least entertain theSimilarity Thesis, according to which EBIs and NBIs share relevant moral features to the extent that moral conclusions about one are implied a...
Source: Neuroethics - December 22, 2023 Category: Medical Ethics Source Type: research
Dimensions of Consciousness and the Moral Status of Brain Organoids
AbstractHuman brain organoids (HBOs) are novel entities that may exhibit unique forms of cognitive potential. What moral status, if any, do they have? Several authors propose that consciousness may hold the answer to this question. Others identify variouskinds of consciousness as crucially important for moral consideration, while leaving open the challenge of determining whether HBOs have them. This paper aims to make progress on these questions in two ways. First, it proposes a framework for thinking about the moral status of entities other than paradigmatic persons. This framework identifies four qualities that ground mo...
Source: Neuroethics - November 22, 2023 Category: Medical Ethics Source Type: research
Caregivers of ALS Patients: Their Experiences and Needs
AbstractWe explored the care experiences and needs of the home caregivers of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) to improve their quality of life. We interviewed home caregivers in-depth and analyzed the data using Colaizzi's descriptive phenomenological method. We interviewed 11 home caregivers of patients with ALS with a disease duration between 1.5 and 4 years. Primary caregivers were predominantly female and were the patients' spouses. Daily caregiving time averaged 4–14 h for 0.5–3.5 years. Interview themes included helplessness and adaptation to life changes, hopelessness, compassion for the pat...
Source: Neuroethics - November 9, 2023 Category: Medical Ethics Source Type: research
When the Trial Ends: The Case for Post-Trial Provisions in Clinical Psychedelic Research
AbstractThe ethical value —and to some scholars, necessity—of providing trial patients with post-trial access (PTA) to an investigational drug has been subject to significant attention in the field of research ethics. Although no consensus has emerged, it seems clear that, in some trial contexts, various factors make PTA particularly appropriate. We outline the atypical aspects of psychedelic clinical trials that support the case for introducing the provision of PTA within research in this field, including the broader legal status of psychedelics, the nature of the researcher-therapist/participant relationship, an d t...
Source: Neuroethics - November 6, 2023 Category: Medical Ethics Source Type: research
Rationales and Approaches to Protecting Brain Data: a Scoping Review
AbstractAdvances in neurotechnologies, artificial intelligence (AI) and Big Data analytics are allowing interpretation of patterns from brain data to identify and even predict and manipulate mental states. Furthermore, there are avenues through which brain data can move into the consumer sphere, be reidentified and brokered. In response to these developments, there have been a number of approaches proposed to strengthen protections of brain data. To better understand the landscape of brain data protection discussions, we conducted a scoping review to identify the rationales for establishing brain data protections and the p...
Source: Neuroethics - November 4, 2023 Category: Medical Ethics Source Type: research
How to Advance the Debate on the Criminal Responsibility of Antisocial Offenders
AbstractShould offenders with psychopathy or those exhibiting extreme forms of antisocial behaviour be considered criminally responsible? The current debate seems to have reached a stalemate. Several scholars have argued that neuropsychological data on individuals with psychopathy might be relevant for determining their criminal responsibility. However, relying on such data has not produced a consensus among legal scholars and philosophers on whether individuals with psychopathy should be excused from responsibility. We offer a diagnosis about why this debate has reached a standoff. We argue that part of the problem is tha...
Source: Neuroethics - October 21, 2023 Category: Medical Ethics Source Type: research
The Ethics of Human Brain Organoid Transplantation in Animals
AbstractIn this paper, we outline how one might conduct a comprehensive ethical evaluation of human brain organoid transplantation in animals. Thus far, ethical concerns regarding this type of research have been assumed to be similar to those associated with other transplants of human cells in animals, and have therefore not received significant attention. The focus has been only on the welfare, moral status, or mental capacities of the host animal. However, the transplantation of human brain organoids introduces several new ethical issues. Many of these are related to uncertainty regarding whether or not brain organoids m...
Source: Neuroethics - October 4, 2023 Category: Medical Ethics Source Type: research
Neurointerventions in Criminal Justice: On the Scope of the Moral Right to Bodily Integrity
AbstractThere is growing interest in the use of neurointerventions to reduce the risk that criminal offenders will reoffend. Commentators have raised several ethical concerns regarding this practice. One prominent concern is that, when imposed without the offender ’s valid consent, neurointerventions might infringe offenders’ right to bodily integrity. While it is commonly held that we possess a moral right to bodily integrity, the extent to which this right would protect against such neurointerventions is as-yet unclear. In this paper, we will assess whe ther, why, and how severely three forms of neurointervention mig...
Source: Neuroethics - September 27, 2023 Category: Medical Ethics Source Type: research
Brain age Prediction and the Challenge of Biological Concepts of Aging
This article shows how the clinical and research use of brain age prediction tacitly pathologizes the states that it is sensitive to. It will be argued that the tacit character of this transformation conceals the need for its exp licit justification. (Source: Neuroethics)
Source: Neuroethics - September 23, 2023 Category: Medical Ethics Source Type: research
Addiction and Volitional Abilities: Stakeholders ’ Understandings and their Ethical and Practical Implications
AbstractAddiction is a common condition affecting millions of people worldwide of which only a small proportion receives treatment. The development and use of healthcare services is influenced by how addiction is understood (e.g., a condition to treat, a shameful condition to stigmatize), notably with respect to how volition is impacted (e.g., addiction as a choice or a disease beyond one ’s control). Through semi-structured qualitative interviews, we explore the implicit views and understandings of addiction and volition across three stakeholder groups: people with lived experience of addiction, clinicians with experien...
Source: Neuroethics - September 21, 2023 Category: Medical Ethics Source Type: research
Potential Consciousness of Human Cerebral Organoids: on Similarity-Based Views in Precautionary Discourse
AbstractAdvances in research on human cerebral organoids (HCOs) call for a critical review of current research policies. A challenge for the evaluation of necessary research regulations lies in the severe uncertainty about future trajectories the currently very rudimentary stages of neural cell cultures might take as the technology progresses. To gain insights into organotypic cultures, ethicists, legal scholars, and neuroscientists rely on resemblances to the human brain. They refer to similarities in structural or functional terms that have been established in scientific practice to validate organotypic cultures as model...
Source: Neuroethics - September 18, 2023 Category: Medical Ethics Source Type: research
Why Won ’t You Listen To Me? Predictive Neurotechnology and Epistemic Authority
AbstractFrom epileptic seizures to depressive symptoms, predictive neurotechnologies are used for a large range of applications. In this article we focus on advisory devices; namely, predictive neurotechnology programmed to detect specific neural events (e.g., epileptic seizure) and advise users to take necessary steps to reduce or avoid the impact of the forecasted neuroevent. Receiving advise from a predictive device is not without ethical concerns. The problem with predictive neural devices, in particular advisory ones, is the risk of seeing one ’s autonomous choice supplanted by the predictions instead of being suppl...
Source: Neuroethics - August 24, 2023 Category: Medical Ethics Source Type: research
Should Moral Bioenhancement Be Covert? A Response to Crutchfield
AbstractCrutchfield (Crutchfield in Bioethics 33:112 –121, [4]) has argued that if moral bioenhancement (MBE) ought to be compulsory, then it ought to be covert. More precisely, they argue that MBE is a public health intervention, and for this reason should be governed by public health ethics. Taking from various public health frameworks, Crutchfield provides an array of values to consider, such as: utility, liberty, equality, transparency, social trust, and autonomy. Subsequently, they argue that a covert MBE programme does better than an overt one, in preserving or promoting said values, and hence, that a covert MBE is...
Source: Neuroethics - August 22, 2023 Category: Medical Ethics Source Type: research
The Mystery of Mental Integrity: Clarifying Its Relevance to Neurotechnologies
AbstractThe concept of mental integrity is currently a significant topic in discussions concerning the regulation of neurotechnologies. Technologies such as deep brain stimulation and brain-computer interfaces are believed to pose a unique threat to mental integrity, and some authors have advocated for a legal right to protect it. Despite this, there remains uncertainty about what mental integrity entails and why it is important. Various interpretations of the concept have been proposed, but the literature on the subject is inconclusive. Here we consider a number of possible interpretations and argue that the most plausibl...
Source: Neuroethics - August 21, 2023 Category: Medical Ethics Source Type: research
