BRAIN ORGANOIDS: GROUNDBREAKING SCIENCE, PROFOUND ETHICAL QUESTIONS (IN-PERSON)

“If it looks like a human brain and acts like a human brain, at what point do we have to treat it like a human brain—or a human being?” (Henry Greely, Stanford Law School). Human brain organoids are three-dimensional cultures of a diversity of brain cell types that are derived from human stem cells and are grown in the laboratory. They partially capture the developmental anatomy of the brain and emit a steady stream of electrical signals producing EEG patterns comparable to those of a human fetus, and have the basic molecular machinery needed for learning and memory. These powerful tools for studying human brain development and disease raise a particularly provocative question: could they ever develop consciousness? No medical or scientific background is required for this lecture.