Are Human Neurons a Part of the Brain?

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In this experiment only about a six that the brain was replaced with human organoid material now of course you could replace more and it remains to be seen what the effects of that would be. I don't know whether simply implanting human neurons into an animal is ethically difficult or whether it is if those human neurons adopt a particular type of organization or structure. How do you even frame all this how do you construct constraints around it if you like? Well from an ethical perspective what matters is function for example there was a huge movement around animal liberation when we realized that animals experience pain in the same way as us. If the being is conscious and can experience pain it has certain rights.

Researchers have successfully transplanted human neurons into the brains of rats. The recent, groundbreaking study described how the human cells took root inside the rat brains, hooked up to their blood supplies and tapped into neural circuitry. Rather than create a kind of super-rat, the ultimate aim is to better understand neuropsychiatric disorders such as epilepsy and schizophrenia, and examine the effects of drugs in real time. But do the potential benefits outweigh the ethical questions that come with combining human cells with other animals? Ian Sample speaks to Prof Julian Savulescu about how the scientists managed to transplant the neurons, what this means, and how we decide where to draw the line in such an ethically complex field of research. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod