Scientists from all over the world believe that computers of the future will use biology. A team of researchers from John Hopkins University, led by Dr. Brett Kagan from Cortical Labs in Melbourne, proved this idea recently when they figured out how to make cells in a petri dish play Pong – a popular game known as DishBrain.
Recently, scientists published an article describing how using a new type of computer can be more powerful than the ones we use today while also using much less electricity. This new version of computers is called biological computers.
Scientists are trying to create biocomputers, or machines with parts made from lab-grown brain organoids. In a recent article, researchers outline all the things needed to make this vision come true; things like fancy tech for the organoid parts and tools for smarter computers that can gather data faster.
Scientists are starting their project by making clusters of 50,000 brain cells from stem cells. That’s a little less than the size of a fruit fly brain. The goal is to make 10 million neurons – about the amount in a tortoise brain. Humans have way more than that though – our brains contain around 80 billion neurons!
Humans are much better than machines at certain tasks. We can tell the difference between a dog and a cat with just a few examples, while computers need thousands before they can do the same thing. In 2016, AI beat the world champion in the game of Go. But it had to spend over 175 years playing (which works out to around five hours each day)!
Our brains are way more powerful and energy-efficient, compared to computers. We can store the same amount of data as a million home computers all in one small brain, but only using a few watts of electricity. On the other hand, data farms in the U.S need lots of electricity every year that mostly come from coal-fired power stations.
Scientists want to create something called “Organoid Intelligence”. It would use brain organoids, which are like mini brains grown in a cell-culture. Right now, these brain organoids only have around 50,000 cells but they need more – 10 million cells in total. Professor Thomas Hartung from Johns Hopkins University came up with this idea.
Brett and his team at Cortical Labs have proved that computers made out of real human brain cells can exist. A written article in the journal “Neuron” revealed how a flat culture of brain cells learned to play the popular video game, Pong.
Scientists found a way to interact with living neurons and make them do something similar to having an intelligent behavior. This is called DishBrain, and it’s really cool because it can even play Pong! The team working on this project is trying to replicate the same work but with brain organoids instead. It’s super awesome!
Thomas said, “We already did the same experiment as Cortical Labs and that means we met the basic requirements of something called OI. To make OI even better, we just have to get people involved and create the right tools and technologies.”
Brett explains that this new technology of biocomputing has the potential to make computing faster, stronger, and more efficient while using less energy. Something really amazing about this project is how it was made: a bunch of experts got together and worked in an open, cooperative way. Having all these people involved is crucial for making it work well but also creates a great opportunity for industry partnership.
Scientists are using new technology to observe how diseases, like Alzheimer’s, affect the brain. They can use samples from a patient’s skin or blood to create “brain organoids,” and then test different things like genetics, medicine, and toxins on them. To learn more about this research, you can look up “Revolutionary Biocomputers Powered by Human Brain Cells.”
Scientists across the world have recently discovered something new and exciting – Organoid Intelligence (OI)! OI is a type of biocomputing that can help create an ‘intelligence-in-a-dish’. It has many potential uses, such as producing better medical treatments or developing more efficient machines. This discovery was published in Frontiers in Science on 27 February 2023 and is being studied by experts all over the globe.
