{"id":3310,"date":"2023-05-10T05:15:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-10T05:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.uehiroethics.hiroshima-u.ac.jp\/en\/?p=3310"},"modified":"2025-02-19T06:30:59","modified_gmt":"2025-02-19T06:30:59","slug":"elementor-44-5-2-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.uehiroethics.hiroshima-u.ac.jp\/en\/elementor-44-5-2-7\/","title":{"rendered":"Can Tiny Brain Tissues Legally Be a Person? Researchers Say Not Yet"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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May 10, 2023<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Can Tiny Brain Tissues Legally Be a Person? Researchers Say Not Yet<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Should a \"Brain Organoid\" be treated as a person by law? (LAIMAN-ARIGA\/Kyoto University the Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Biology)<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Grown in labs, human brain organoids are cultivated from stem cells, feed on nutrient broth and serve as a model of human brain development in miniature. Their growth and structure mimic portions of real brains, allowing scientists to better investigate the origins and potential treatments of neural diseases. How similar are they to actual human brains, though? Are they close enough to be considered people in their own right?<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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The question is complicated in myriad ethical and moral ways, but researchers based in Japan and Taiwan propose that the legal lens may prove critical when understanding the potential personhood of human brain organoids.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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They published their argument for a legal framework to guide the conversation on April 3 in the\u00a0Journal of Law and Biosciences<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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\u201cThe moral status of human brain organoids has often been discussed, but their legal status has rarely been discussed,\u201d said corresponding author\u00a0Tsutomu Sawai<\/a>, associate invesitgator in WPI-ASHBi at Kyoto University. \u201cTo clarify the legal status of human brain organoids will illuminate issues such as what information should be informed to the cell donor, to what extent the donor\u2019s consent justifies the research, and what uses are acceptable.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Legal person refers to any entity that holds legal rights and obligations \u2014 it can be human or not, according to Sawai. Human legal persons are called natural persons, and they are defined by being born of a womb and whether they can be considered legal dead once their heart or brain stops working. Nonhuman legal persons are called juridical persons and can include corporations and governmental agencies.<\/p>

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In their paper, Sawai and his team explore how the legal definition of what it means to be a natural or a juridical person applies to human brain organoids. Currently, the organoids do not fulfill basic requirements of what it means to be a natural person, Sawai said, but research may bridge the existing gaps.<\/p>

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\u201cAlthough human brain organoids do not constitute natural persons at present, the likelihood of their potential to become natural persons in the near future requires more thorough consideration in advance of that reality occurring,\u201d said first author Masanori Kataoka, researcher in Hiroshima University\u2019s Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences. \u201cResearch on linking human brain organoids with bodies is expected to advance rapidly in the coming years, whereas the conditions of natural personhood, especially viability and birth are becoming increasingly flexible and contentious.\u201d<\/p>

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The researchers noted that previous discussions on this topic have focused almost exclusively on natural personhood, overshadowing questions about the potential juridical personhood of human brain organoids. Corporations, for example, are considered juridical persons so that they can participate in legal matters, such as entering contracts. According to Kataoka, whether this applies to human brain organoids would depend on what legal purposes such consideration may have, and the matter should be considered separately from whether they are natural persons.<\/p>

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\u201cCurrent brain organoid technology is in many ways quite limited, and it has not yet reached a stage where human brain organoids could become natural or juridical persons,\u201d Sawai said. \u201cHowever, as we have emphasized, this issue will soon become urgent once brain organoid technology has been further developed. In preparation for that time, it is essential to examine the accompanying questions thoroughly and in advance; we have taken the first step in that direction.\u201d<\/p>

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Tsung-Ling Lee with Taipei Medical University\u2019s Graduate Institute of Health and Biotechnology Law also co-authored this paper.<\/p>

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The Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development, the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, the Uehiro Foundation, the Mitsubishi Foundation, the Japan Science and Technology\u2019s Research Institute of Science and Technology for Society funded this work.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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May 10, 2023 Can Tiny Brain Tissues Legally Be a Person? Researchers Say Not Yet Should a “Brain Organoid” be treated as a person by law? (LAIMAN-ARIGA\/Kyoto University the Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Biology) Grown in labs, human brain organoids are cultivated from stem cells, feed on nutrient broth and serve as a model of human brain development in miniature. Their growth and structure mimic portions of real brains, allowing scientists to better investigate the origins and potential treatments of neural diseases. How similar are they to actual human brains, though? Are they close enough to be considered people in their own right? The question is complicated in myriad ethical and moral ways, but researchers based in Japan and Taiwan propose that the legal lens may prove critical when understanding the potential personhood of human brain organoids. They published their argument for a legal framework to guide the conversation on April 3 in the\u00a0Journal of Law a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3363,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_canvas","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3310","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-release"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.uehiroethics.hiroshima-u.ac.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.uehiroethics.hiroshima-u.ac.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.uehiroethics.hiroshima-u.ac.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.uehiroethics.hiroshima-u.ac.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.uehiroethics.hiroshima-u.ac.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3310"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/en.uehiroethics.hiroshima-u.ac.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3310\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4408,"href":"https:\/\/en.uehiroethics.hiroshima-u.ac.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3310\/revisions\/4408"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.uehiroethics.hiroshima-u.ac.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3363"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.uehiroethics.hiroshima-u.ac.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.uehiroethics.hiroshima-u.ac.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.uehiroethics.hiroshima-u.ac.jp\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}