Human brain grown in lab

Guardian wrote:The ethical concerns were non-existent, said Anand. “We don’t have any sensory stimuli entering the brain. This brain is not thinking in any way.”

Anand and his colleagues claim to have reproduced 99% of the brain’s diverse cell types and genes. They say their brain also contains a spinal cord, signalling circuitry and even a retina.

Several researchers contacted by the Guardian said it was hard to judge the quality of the work without access to more data, which Anand is keeping under wraps due to a pending patent on the technique. For now, the team say they are focusing on using the brain for military research.

Hobb wrote:http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/aug/18/first-almost-fully-formed-human-brain-grown-in-lab-researchers-claim

It hasn't been peer-reviewed yet so it could be a scam. Some interesting ethic quotes:

Guardian wrote:The ethical concerns were non-existent, said Anand. “We don’t have any sensory stimuli entering the brain. This brain is not thinking in any way.”

The reporter seems to accept this when she writes "Though not conscious the miniature brain, which resembles that of a five-week-old foetus, could potentially be useful."

Terms like "conscious" and "thinking" are highly debated terms. To a behaviorist who believes these terms mean nothing more than stimulus-reaction it is easy to say that "no stimulus" = "no thinking". My question would be "Is there electrical activity?" Is a virus conscious? Is a protozoa? Is a fish? These questions get crazy.

The whole idea of a brain with no stimuli is crazy, it's like those lifeforms they breed in special germ-free environments - totally unnatural in a bizarrely cool sci-fi way.

Anand and his colleagues claim to have reproduced 99% of the brain’s diverse cell types and genes. They say their brain also contains a spinal cord, signalling circuitry and even a retina.

Several researchers contacted by the Guardian said it was hard to judge the quality of the work without access to more data, which Anand is keeping under wraps due to a pending patent on the technique. For now, the team say they are focusing on using the brain for military research.

Oh good - for a second I thought they were growing artificial brains for non-military purposes and got worried...