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Models & animals

Do human–animal neural chimeras get moral status?

Porsdam Mann S, Sun R, Hermerén G · BMC medical ethics · 2019

Open access · cc by · source: Europe PMC

A chimera mixes cells of different embryonic origins. The authors posit degrees of moral status from awareness, autonomy, and sociability, so lesser capacities yield partial status rather than zero or full human status.

Key findings

No being automatically has full status without the properties. Partial moral status admits of degrees. Neural chimeras sit on that gradient, which is the assessment framework.

Methodology

They define chimera, note Parkinson’s-style disease models that drive neural chimeras, discuss technical/ethical limits of modelling neurological disease, then argue that beings with enough of the same status-conferring properties have full status, while lesser degrees have partial status proportional to those capacities.

Limitations

This is a status framework, not a new chimera experiment. It does not license or ban a specific protocol.

How this study connects

Role on claims

Each row is a claim on a concept or method page where this paper supports, challenges, or qualifies the statement. Roles are hand-checked — not a model guess.

  • SupportsModels & animalsconcept

    Human–animal neural chimeras are given degrees of moral status from awareness, autonomy and sociability rather than all-or-nothing status.

    Evidence for the claim as stated.

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