Here’s a question or a nitpick.
Back in DS9’s third season during “Life Support” When Bashir’s doing that surgery on Bareil, he’s able to replace part of Bareil’s brain with cybernetic parts and implies he could do the same to the other hemisphere but then he wouldn’t necessarily be Bareil anymore. Well that last part’s a matter of opinion as Bareil had the personality of a wet noodle anyway my main question is, How Different is replacing a brain with Cybernetic Parts to creating a Positronic Matrix, aka Data’s Brain?
Bashir was retconned with being genetically altered (but it fit in so perfectly with his character and his actions) could he have actually done so. I haven’t watched Life Support in a while so I don’t know if I’m misremembering but it. I just imagine Data showing Bashir Lal and maybe, just maybe Bashir has a flash of inspiration….
Or I might just be rambling
Chances are Bashir had access to Beverly and Data’s notes or derivative works following Descent (s6e26&s7e1) where Lore attempted to replace the biological Borg brain with positronic circuitry. Though Lore was unsuccessful at performing that synthesis of android and biological tech, it would have had possibilities around repairing minor damage to autonomic systems and could have been an avenue of study after 2369. So three years later in 2371 initial work exploring the technology could have entered the medical literature, where Bashir would have familiarized himself with it.
Even before they ret-conned his genetic engineering, Bashir was one for the experimental or unorthodox treatment, this was no exception.