Virtually human — “I’d like to

subject it to carcinogenic materials. I think you

should be able to give it a suntan or a blister. I’m serious. I

mean, you should be able to cut it. You should be able to have

it cough up a hairball if you want to.” Disappointingly, but realistically: ‘…even the most ambitious modellers are steering clear of

one important organ: the brain. “There is every possibility of

modelling a human neuron, and perhaps a cluster of neurons,”

explains (its developer), “but modelling the human brain is outside the

realm of our reality.” ‘ New Scientist Still, might ethical dilemmas arise about whether to afford it the protections customarily reserved to things we call alive?