Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

How collaboration between bioethicists and neuroscientists can advance research

Nature Neuroscience volume 25, pages 1399–1401 (2022)Cite this article

Subjects

By integrating ongoing bioethical collaboration, neuroscientists can create a positive effect on their research and the knowledge it produces. To this end, we offer our experiences with an interdisciplinary model for the ethical advancement of a promising area of neuroscience — human neural organoid research.

As neuroscience becomes ever more integrated with technology and engineering, some emerging neurotechnologies may raise concerns from bioethicists and the general public, necessitating dialog with neuroscientists. For example, some non-scientists may worry about the potential for human brain organoids — small, self-organizing, stem cell-derived 3D models of brain structures grown in culture — to develop consciousness, and these fears could be allayed by organoid researchers. But there are other reasons for neuroscientists to talk with non-scientists; in particular, having meaningful discussions with bioethicists throughout the research process can enrich neuroscience in many ways. Through regular opportunities for ethical deliberation and discourse, neuroscientists can uncover innovative approaches to their work that can inspire and improve neuroscience in socially impactful ways that anticipate and address concerns for scientists and non-scientists alike.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Sawai, T., Sakaguchi, H., Thomas, E., Takahashi, J. & Fujita, M. Stem Cell Reports 13, 440–447 (2019).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  2. Lopes, M. et al. Am. Sci. 109, 208–209 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Quadrato, G. et al. Nature 545, 48–53 (2017).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  4. Andersen, J. et al. Cell 183, 1913–1929.e26 (2020).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  5. Hyun, I., Scharf-Deering, J. C. & Lunshof, J. E. Brain Res. 1732, 146653 (2020).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  6. Cakir, B. et al. Nat. Methods 16, 1169–1175 (2019).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  7. Mansour, A. A. et al. Nat. Biotechnol. 36, 432–441 (2018).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  8. Hyun, I. Cell Stem Cell 21, 718–720 (2017).

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Lovell-Badge, R. et al. Stem Cell Reports 16, 1398–1408 (2021).

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This project was funded by the NIH BRAIN Initiative Grant no. RF1 MH117803. I.H and J.E.L. received additional funding from the Greenwall Foundation’s ‘Making a Difference’ Grant.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Bioethics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Insoo Hyun, Robert D. Truog & Jeantine E. Lunshof

  2. Center for Life Sciences and Public Learning, Museum of Science, Boston, MA, USA

    Insoo Hyun

  3. Department of Bioethics, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, OH, USA

    J. C. Scharf-Deering & Aaron Goldenberg

  4. Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA

    Sarah Sullivan, Richie E. Kohman, Aric Lu & Jeantine E. Lunshof

  5. Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    John Dennis Aach, George M. Church, Richie E. Kohman & Jeantine E. Lunshof

  6. Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Paola Arlotta, Bruna Paulsen & Martina Pigoni

  7. Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, Boston, MA, USA

    Matthew L. Baum

  8. Harvard Medical School, Department of Psychiatry, Boston, MA, USA

    Matthew L. Baum

  9. Stanford Law School, Stanford, CA, USA

    Henry T. Greely

  10. GC Therapeutics Inc., Cambridge, MA, USA

    Parastoo Khoshakhlagh & Alex H. M. Ng

  11. Wyss Center for Bio- and Neuroengineering, Geneva, Switzerland

    Richie E. Kohman

  12. Office of the Vice Provost of Research, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Melissa Lopes

  13. Department of Biological Engineering, MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Caroline Lowenthal

  14. Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA

    Aric Lu

  15. Biological Engineering Division, Draper Laboratory, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Aric Lu

  16. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, , Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

    Sergiu P. Pasca

  17. Stanford Brain Organogenesis, Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

    Sergiu P. Pasca

  18. Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA

    Christopher T. Scott

  19. Department of Psychiatry and Institute for the Neurosciences, Brigham and Women’s/Faulkner Hospitals, Boston, MA, USA

    David A. Silbersweig

  20. Department of Bioengineering, Betty Irene Moore Children’s Heart Center, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

    Mark A. Skylar-Scott

  21. Basic Science and Engineering Initiative, Children’s Heart Center, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

    Mark A. Skylar-Scott

  22. Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Mark A. Skylar-Scott

  23. Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Jeantine E. Lunshof

Authors
  1. Insoo Hyun
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. J. C. Scharf-Deering
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Sarah Sullivan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. John Dennis Aach
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Paola Arlotta
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Matthew L. Baum
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. George M. Church
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Aaron Goldenberg
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Henry T. Greely
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Parastoo Khoshakhlagh
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. Richie E. Kohman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  12. Melissa Lopes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  13. Caroline Lowenthal
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  14. Aric Lu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  15. Alex H. M. Ng
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  16. Sergiu P. Pasca
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  17. Bruna Paulsen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  18. Martina Pigoni
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  19. Christopher T. Scott
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  20. David A. Silbersweig
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  21. Mark A. Skylar-Scott
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  22. Robert D. Truog
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  23. Jeantine E. Lunshof
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Insoo Hyun or Jeantine E. Lunshof.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

A.H.M.N. and P.K. are inventors on patents filed by the Presidents and Fellows of Harvard College and GC Therapeutics, Inc., and are co-founders of and have equity in GC Therapeutics, Inc. I.H. is a bioethics advisor for Bayer, the Novo Nordisk Foundation, and Rumi Therapeutics. P.A. is a member of the scientific advisory board at Herophilus, Rumi Therapeutics, and Foresite Labs, and is a co-founder of Vesalius. M.A.S.-S. and A.L. have submitted a patent application associated with engineered brain organoids (US Provisional Application Serial No. 63/048,502, filed July 6, 2020). Stanford University holds patents for the generation of cortical organoids/spheroids and assembloids (listing S.P.P. as an inventor). From September 1, 2021, M.P. has been an employee of Roche. G.M.C.’s competing interests are listed at https://arep.med.harvard.edu/gmc/tech.html. The remaining authors declare no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Hyun, I., Scharf-Deering, J.C., Sullivan, S. et al. How collaboration between bioethicists and neuroscientists can advance research. Nat Neurosci 25, 1399–1401 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-022-01187-2

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-022-01187-2

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing