ReviewPatterns (New York, N.Y.)2025
Facing the possibility of consciousness in human brain organoids.
Review in Patterns (New York, N.Y.), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Organoid intelligence: a promising paradigm for autism spectrum disorder research.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Review
- Development and application of organoid technology in pituitary neuroendocrine tumor research.The Journal of international medical research · 2026Review
- Organoids: generation strategies, applications, and future challenges.Stem cell research & therapy · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Human brain organoids (HBOs) have emerged as transformative models for neurodevelopment and disease, yet ethical concerns persist regarding their potential to develop consciousness. Since 2020, a growing cohort of neuroscientists and philosophers has dismissed these concerns as unscientific, citing limited structural complexity, absence of bodily integration and environmental interaction, and a prevailing neuroscientific consensus against the feasibility of any, or any near-future, emergence of HBO consciousness, thus challenging any suggested revisions of ethical guidelines and safeguards. We argue that this dismissal is premature. Drawing on neuroscientific benchmarks, comparisons to the developing human brain, contemporary theories of consciousness, and principles of natural developmental progression, we question the basis for selectively excluding consciousness from among HBOs' expanding functional repertoire. We caution against enshrining such skepticism into dogma or using it to defer ethical engagement. Instead, we advocate for proactive, ongoing assessment of the moral implications of advancing HBO capabilities.
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Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.