What are Organoids?
Organioids are three dimensional (3D) cell culture that was obtained by using a stem cell sample from embryonic stem cells, tissue stem cells adult stem cells or tumor stem cells.
Organiods split and divide into an organ like structure that has physiological function, gene specificity and other characteristics of a specific tissue.
This is relatively new. It first appeared in published research in 2009.
It is preferable to use human tissue to study humans. Humans are not animals and are not mice.
What Organoids are Used For Ethically.
According to a systematic review, it has been a scientific breakthrough for cancer patients. Cancer will increase from 1 million n 2008 to 22 million by 2030. The morality rate of cancer will increase in developing countries. Research has a lot of work to do.
Tumor organoids have led to new and more targeted treatments and therapies. This led to more patients surviving cancer. The types of cancers that organoids have helped are bladder, colorectal, lung, liver, prostate, breast, gastric, pancreatic, thyroid and some others.
Studies have shown that organioids that are developed in a lab from cancer cells obtained by the patient develop very similarly to the tumor in their body.
They are also used for genetic diseases, infectious disease, regenerative medicine. The point is that it is valid for research but not all types of research.
Limitations of Research with Organoids
At this time, organoids are still a much smaller size than the organ that their tissue would come from. It is called a “mini organ.”
The organoids lack a vascular system. As they grow, they cannot get adequate nutrition or rid itself of waste. This is why this research method is not used more often.
Two methods of this would be to transplant these organoids into animals (in vivo vascularization) or combine gene editing, mixed cell culture and microfluidic platform (in vitro vascularization).
Organids immune environment lacks immune organs, immunocytes (type of white blood cell) and immune molecules that would identify foreign antigens and communicate with other organs. The oranoid does not have this.
Any study would need to be in a completely sterile environment.
Organoids for Unethical Autism Research
Recently, a study was released by Mayo Clinic and Yale University. Their “mini brains” are actually neuron organoids. They believe that they “unlocked key insights” to autism.
Their goal in this study was to understand the development of autism.
One of the researchers admits that autism is genetic.
Autism is mostly a genetic disease. Our goal is to be able to determine the risk of autism spectrum disorder and possibly prevent it in an unborn child using prenatal genetic testing. However, this would require detailed knowledge of how brain regulation gets derailed during development. there are many aspects in which organoids could help in this direction.
Dr. Abyzov
They can use big scientific words that the general public does not understand but let me translate. They are growing these mini brains for EUGENICS. Encouraging abortions of autistic babies by genetic testing is exactly what this is.
When was eugenics an issue before? Autistic History: Akitoin T4
The researchers obtained stem cells from each of the participants and “influenced” the cells to become brain cells.
The participants were autistic boys with non autistic fathers. They compared the samples of the son and father. The sample is very limited because it excludes most of the autistic community. They do write in their report that informed consent was given to them by the participants. No they were not. They received informed consent by their parents, not the participants.
The findings were unremarkable and scientifically do not prove anything.
Even though these organoids do not have consciousness, using this to try to prevent a marginalized group of people is unethical. These children cannot give informed consent and their DNA privacy will be forever compromised.
This is the attempt to be able to see autism in an amniocentesis. This even increases the risk of miscarriage. Some people are willing to put risk to their baby to see if they will abort if their baby is disabled and is compatible with life.
If someone is not prepared to have a disabled child, they are not ready to have one.
sources:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8635113/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10573709/
Aviva Seigler 