Researchers are now creating human neural organoids that can be combined into multi-organoid assembloids and/or transplanted into non-human animals, creating human/non-human chimeras. Alongside the scientific advances, neuroethicists are considering ethical question raised by these novel entities. While regulatory bodies exist that oversee stem cell research, human subjects research, and non-human animal research, many neuroethicists believe that these novel entities also warrant specialized oversight, which currently does not exist.
- Hank Greely
- John Evans
- Karola Kreitmair
- Sergiu Pașca
Attend
Neuroethics 2026
Building Bridges and Cultivating Community
Thursday, April 16, 2026
This session was part of the Neuroethics 2026 conference organized by the INS and hosted by the Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics at Lathrop Library.
Agenda
- Introductions by Hank Greely / 5 mins
- Sergiu Pașca on the science / 10 mins
- John Evans on public perceptions / 10 minutes
- Karola Kreitmair on ethics and moral status / 10 minutes
- Hank Greely on governance and oversight / 10 minutes
- Audience Q&A / 15-20 minutes
Description
Over the past ten years, research involving human neural organoids, which are in vitro pluripotent-stem-cell-derived three-dimensional entities that recapitulate human neuronal development, has progressed rapidly. Researchers are now creating human neural organoids that can be combined into multi-organoid assembloids and/or transplanted into non-human animals, creating human/non-human chimeras. Alongside the scientific advances, neuroethicists are considering ethical question raised by these novel entities. While bodies exist that oversee stem cell research, human subjects research, and non-human animal research, many neuroethicists believe that these novel entities warrant specialized oversight, which currently does not exist.
In November 2025, a group of around 50 experts in the science, governance, ethics, policy, and social implications of human neural organoids, assembloids, and neural organoid transplantation convened in Asilomar, California to make progress on the question of what sorts of frameworks and oversight structures might be able to provide guidance on research involving these entities. The proposed session will feature four speakers, providing the four main perspectives from the meeting. These are:
- (a) an overview of cutting-edge scientific developments by one of the leading researchers in human neural organoid research and a co-organizer of the Asilomar event,
- (b) important insights from years of empirical research of public views around human neural organoids,
- (c) crucial philosophical and ethical considerations around the moral status of these entities, in particular with respect to the potential for entities to develop the capacity for consciousness, and
- (d) a critical evaluation of existing regulatory and oversight bodies, including an explanation for why specialized oversight bodies are required, from one of the leading voices in this area.
As the preeminent global association for neuroethics, INS is well-positioned to spearhead governance efforts for neural organoids and this panel at Neuroethics 2026 may serve as a launching pad for such efforts.
Speakers
Hank Greely
Stanford Law School
Henry T. “Hank” Greely is the Deane F. and Kate Edelman Johnson Professor of Law and Professor, by courtesy, of Genetics at Stanford University. He specializes in ethical, legal, and social issues arising from advances in the biosciences, particularly from genetics, neuroscience, and human stem cell research. He chairs the California Advisory Committee on Human Stem Cell Research and the steering committee of the Stanford University Center for Biomedical Ethics, and directs the Stanford Center for Law and the Biosciences and the Stanford Program in Neuroscience and Society.
John Evans
UCSD
John H. Evans is the Tata Chancellor’s Chair in Social Sciences, Professor of Sociology, Associate Dean of Social Sciences and Co-Director of the Institute for Practical Ethics at the University of California, San Diego. His research focuses on politics, religion, science and ethics with a particular interest in sociologically examining questions that have largely been addressed by humanities scholars.
Karola Kreitmair
University of Wisconsin–Madison
Karola Kreitmair, PhD, MSc, HEC-C is an Associate Professor of Medical History and Bioethics and an Affiliate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She is Co-Chair of the University of Wisconsin Hospital Ethics Committee and Co-Director of the Path of Distinction in Bioethics at UW School of Medicine and Public Health. Her work focuses on AI in health care, consciousness and moral status, and ethical issues arising from direct-to-consumer digital behavioral technology.
Sergiu Pașca
Stanford University
Sergiu Pașca is the Kenneth T. Norris, Jr. Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Bonnie Uytengsu and Family Director of the Stanford Brain Organogenesis Program. He is a world-renowned neuroscientist using neural organoids, assembloids, and chimeric transplantation in his research.
Resources
Greely, H. T. (2021). Human brain surrogates research: the onrushing ethical dilemma. The American Journal of Bioethics, 21(1), 34-45. https://doi.org/10.1080/15265161.2020.1845853
Kreitmair, K. (2023). Consciousness and the ethics of human brain organoid research. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics, 32(4), 518-528. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0963180123000063
Leslie, M. (2025). As neural organoids advance, ethics races to keep pace. Science, 390(6775). https://doi.org/10.1126/science.zpaeptw
Pașca, S. P., Arlotta, P., Campbell, P., Charo, A., Evans, J. H., Farahany, N., … & Greely, H. T. (2025). The need for a global effort to attend to human neural organoid and assembloid research. Science, 390(6773), 574-577. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aeb1510
Recording
A recording of this session will be made available to registered attendees.