Regulating Possibly Sentient Human Cerebral Organoids

Due to their contested ethical and legal status, human cerebral organoids (HCOs) have become the subject of one of the most rapidly expanding debates in the recent bioethics literature. There is no doubt that their potential scientific usefulness is immense. Human cerebral organoids constitute 3D biological cultures grown in a lab to work as a placeholder model for the human brain, and their similarity can allow us to engage in research that would otherwise not be possible. Yet, it is precisely this similarity that raises ethical issues. That is, if these organoids resemble human brains, might they deserve similar protections?