Neural Organoids and the Precautionary Principle
Jonathan Birch, Heather Browning
Abstract
It is a familiar idea that we should "apply the precautionary principle" when designing animal welfare regulations: we should not allow our uncertainty about the sentience of some animals to delay the adoption of proportionate measures to protect those animals from severe welfare threats.The same general idea should be applied to neural organoid research.If any of a set of neurological "warning signs" is found, proportionate measures should be taken to mitigate welfare risks.A measure likely to be proportionate is to bring the organoids in question within the scope of regulation that already exists for scientific research on sentient animals (such as, in a UK context, the "ASPA" regulatory framework).
Topics & Concepts
SentienceScope (computer science)Context (archaeology)Animal welfareOrganoidPrecautionary principleBusinessSet (abstract data type)WelfareEconomicsComputer sciencePsychologyNeuroscienceBiologyArtificial intelligenceBiotechnologyEcologyProgramming languagePaleontologyMarket economyAnimal testing and alternativesHuman-Animal Interaction StudiesPsychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment