Brain Organoid Research in a Post-Dobbs World

Abstract

The creation and study of brain organoids may hold significant promise for understanding brain functions, disorders, and diseases. This research may also raise novel considerations and ethical concerns, but it has significant public and professional support when thoughtfully undertaken. Current legislative and judicial restrictions on abortion and pronouncements about fetal personhood could, however, have a surprisingly broad and unintended reach, even conceivably restricting the development and use of brain organoids and other biomedical and bioengineered research tools. Brain organoid research thus may constitute a cautionary tale about the risks of performative policy-making.