Division of Scientific Information and Public Policy, Center for Infectious Disease Education and Research (CiDER), Osaka University, Osaka 565-0871, Japan.
Uehiro Research Division for iPS Cell Ethics, Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA), Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8507, Japan.
Medicina (Kaunas). 2021 May 27;57(6):532. doi: 10.3390/medicina57060532.
: Brain organoids are self-assembled, three-dimensional (3D) aggregates generated from pluripotent stem cells. These models are useful for experimental studies on human brain development and function and are therefore increasingly used for research worldwide. As their increasing use raises several ethical questions, we aimed to assess the current state of the press on brain organoid research using a cross-sectional database to understand the extent of discussion of this subject in the public. : We conducted a descriptive analysis of news reports obtained from the Nexis Uni database, searched in April 2020. After extracting the news reports, the number of published reports in each year and the included terms were analyzed. : Up to April 2020, 332 news reports had been published, with over half of them published in the United States and the United Kingdom, with the numbers gradually increasing every year. In total, 113 (34.0%) news reports included ethics-related keywords, and the ratio of studies before and after the study-period midpoint was significantly increased (21.0% (2013-2016) vs. 38.2% (2017-2020); = 0.0066, Chi-square test with Yates' continuity correction). : Although news reports on the ethical aspects of brain organoid research have been increasing gradually, there was a bias in the region of publication. Additional studies focusing on the ethical aspects of brain organoid research should strive to assess the public perception on the subject in different parts of the world.
脑类器官是由多能干细胞自我组装形成的三维（3D）聚集体。这些模型对于研究人类大脑发育和功能的实验非常有用，因此在全球范围内越来越多地被用于研究。由于其越来越多的应用引发了一些伦理问题，我们旨在使用横断面数据库评估脑类器官研究的新闻报道现状，以了解公众对这一主题的讨论程度。
我们对 2020 年 4 月从 Nexis Uni 数据库中搜索到的新闻报道进行了描述性分析。在提取新闻报道后，分析了每年发表的报道数量和包含的术语。
截至 2020 年 4 月，已发表了 332 篇新闻报道，其中超过一半的报道来自美国和英国，且数量逐年递增。总共，有 113（34.0%）篇新闻报道包含与伦理相关的关键词，且研究期中点前后的研究比例显著增加（21.0%（2013-2016）比 38.2%（2017-2020）；= 0.0066，Yates 连续性校正的卡方检验）。
尽管关于脑类器官研究伦理方面的新闻报道逐渐增加，但在出版地区上存在偏倚。应关注脑类器官研究伦理方面的其他研究，努力评估世界不同地区公众对这一主题的看法。
