Ethical considerations for human–animal neurological chimera research: mouse models and beyond

Abstract

Research that uses stem cell-based chimeras promises to advance our under- standing of human developmental biology, as well as new medical interventions, such as generating transplantable human organs in livestock. However, along with these exciting research possibilities come moral concerns about the moral human- ization of animals, especially when it comes to the potential effects of human cells in the brains of experimental animals. Recent work involving neurologi- cally chimeric mice may suggest that such worries are reasonable. However, this overlooks the crucial social and neurologi- cal conditions for enabling the develop- ment of conscious self-awareness, the absence of which leaves us only with animal welfare to monitor and consider. C