实验室培育的迷你大脑正在挑战道德底线

实验室培育的迷你大脑正在挑战道德底线

Scientists are fast approaching the point where they can grow a brain in a lab.

科学家们很快就能在实验室里培育出大脑。

Some mini-brains are starting to act eerily like the full-sized model. (Photo: Sergey Nivens/Northeastern University)

No, we're not talking about artificial intelligence, but actual gray matter — stem cells taken from human skin or blood and reprogrammed to grow into neurons in the cortex, the brain's central processing unit.

不，我们说的不是人工智能，而是真正的灰质——从人类皮肤或血液中提取的干细胞，经过重新编程后生长为大脑皮层(大脑的中央处理单元)中的神经元。

So far, researchers have developed a stripped-down version, appropriately called a mini-brain or an organoid.

到目前为止，研究人员已经开发出一种简化的版本，称为迷你大脑或类器官。

And earlier this year, a University of California team announced they had grown a mini-brain with neural activity similar to that seen in a preterm infant. That lab-grown organ not only exhibited an eerie similarity to a human foetal brain at 12 to 13 weeks, but it also tried to connect itself with a nearby spinal cord and muscle tissue.

今年早些时候，加州大学的一个研究小组宣布，他们培育出了一个迷你大脑，其神经活动与早产儿类似。这个实验室培养的器官不仅在12到13周时表现出与人类胎儿大脑惊人的相似，而且还试图将自己与附近的脊髓和肌肉组织连接起来。

To be sure, these mini-brains have limited functionality  — they help researchers recreate specific diseases and test therapies  — leaving them a long way from what a full-sized model can do.

可以肯定的是，这些微型大脑的功能有限——它们帮助研究人员重现特定的疾病并测试治疗方法——离全尺寸模型的功能还有很长的路要走。

But sentience, the ability to feel or experience the world around them, may be just around the corner — and all the ethical implications it brings.

但是感知能力，即感受或体验周围世界的能力，可能就在眼前——以及它所带来的所有伦理影响。

When scientists from around the world gathered this week for the 49th annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, a team led by San Diego's Green Neuroscience Laboratory issued a dire warning.

本周，当来自世界各地的科学家齐聚一堂，参加神经科学学会第49届年会时，圣地亚哥绿色神经科学实验室(Green Neuroscience Laboratory)领导的一个团队发出了一个可怕的警告。

These lumps of brain may soon feel the world around them, as noted in the abstract to their presentation, there's an "urgent need" for scientists to wrap their heads around the ethical implications.

这些大脑块可能很快就会感知周围的世界，正如他们的报告摘要中所指出的那样，科学家们“迫切需要”理解其中的伦理含义。

"If there's even a possibility of the organoid being sentient, we could be crossing that line," Elan Ohayon of the Green Neuroscience Laboratory tells The Guardian.

绿色神经科学实验室的Elan Ohayon告诉《卫报》:“如果有机生命体有感知能力的可能性，我们可能会越过那条线。”

"We don't want people doing research where there is potential for something to suffer."

“我们不希望人们在有可能遭受痛苦的地方进行研究。”

Indeed, imagine an existence of endless scientific torment that lasts indefinitely — without any hope of escape.

事实上，想象一下一种无穷无尽的科学折磨的存在，这种折磨无限期地持续下去，没有任何逃脱的希望。

The scientists are calling for a set of criteria to be applied to organoids that would determine sentience and treat mini-brains within an ethical framework.

科学家们呼吁将一套标准应用于类器官，以确定感知能力，并在伦理框架内治疗微型大脑。

Think of it as a mini-brain's charter of rights.

可以把它看作是一个迷你大脑的权利宪章。

Lab-grown mini-brains are essentially stripped down versions of their human equivalents grown from reprogrammed stem cells. (Photo: Meletios Verras/Shutterstock)

For science, the appeal of a "brain on a dish" may already outstrip the ethical implications. A mini-brain can give researchers invaluable insight into the complex workings of the mind, and, along the way, develop effective treatments for what may ail it. Organoids could also save countless animals from testing in labs.

对科学来说，“盘子上的大脑”的吸引力可能已经超过了它的伦理含义。迷你大脑可以让研究人员深入了解大脑的复杂运作，并在此过程中开发出有效的治疗方法。有机化合物还可以拯救无数动物，使它们免于在实验室里接受测试。

But at what point do these new creations need protection?

但是在什么情况下这些新的创造需要保护呢?

"The field is developing quickly, and as we continue down this path, researchers need to contribute to the creation of ethical guidelines grounded in scientific principles that define how to approach their use before and after transplantation in animals," Isaac Chen, a neuroscientist who wasn't involved with the presentation tells Science Alert.

”领域正在迅速发展中,我们继续沿着这条道路,研究者需要有助于建立道德准则基于科学原理,定义如何处理之前和之后使用移植动物,”艾萨克·陈,一位神经科学家并不参与演讲告诉科学预警。

"While today's brain organoids and brain organoid hosts do not come close to reaching any level of self-awareness, there is wisdom in understanding the relevant ethical considerations in order to avoid potential pitfalls that may arise as this technology advances."

“虽然今天的大脑器官和大脑器官宿主没有达到任何程度的自我意识，但为了避免随着技术的进步可能出现的潜在陷阱，理解相关的伦理考虑是明智的。”

Indeed, if we're hurtling down this road, we may have to develop the one thing that can't be grown in a lab: a conscience.

的确，如果我们沿着这条路飞奔，我们可能不得不培养出一种无法在实验室里培养的东西:一种良知。