Ethics are concerned with maximising the thriving of individuals and societies. One cannot maximise the thriving of a person unless one has some idea about what sort of creature that person is. Ethics follow ontology. Many answers have been suggested to the question 'What is a human?' and the less fundamental question 'What are the defining attributes of a human'? Many of those answers are...
Human cerebral organoids (HCOs) are three-dimensional in vitro cell cultures that mimic the developmental process and organization of the developing human brain. In just a few years this technique has produced brain models that are already being used to study diseases of the nervous system and to test treatments and drugs. Currently, HCOs consist of tens of millions of cells and have a size of...
Disorders of consciousness include coma, the vegetative state and the minimally conscious state. Such patients are often regarded as unconscious. This has consequences for end of life decisions for these patients: it is much easier to justify withdrawing life support for unconscious than conscious patients. Recent brain imaging research has however suggested that some patients may in fact be...