Scientific advancements lead us towards a future in which Homo sapiens may no longer be the only sapient being. The societal and legal challenges of this potentiality are immense, and it will require traditionally disparate branches of science to recognise their similarities in order to address them effectively.
Keywords: artificial intelligence; bioethics; new life; personhood; synthetic biology.
© 2019 The Author(s). Published by Portland Press Limited on behalf of the Biochemical Society and the Royal Society of Biology.