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Scientists turned live bacteria into the world’s first biological computer
Scientists target ‘biocomputing’ breakthrough with use of human brain cells _ Financial Times.pdfDownload Scientists target ‘biocomputing’ breakthrough with use of human brain cells _ Financial Times.pdf
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Provide a one paragraph reflection on what your thoughts on regarding the trends in biocomputing, the challenges ahead, and any possible ethical issues.
8/24/23, 2:11 PM
Scientists target ‘biocomputing’ breakthrough with use of human brain cells | Financial Times
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Scientists target ‘biocomputing’ breakthrough with use of human brain cells
Proposal for ‘intelligence in a dish’ that can efficiently perform advanced tasks raises ethical concerns
Brain organoid seen through the microscope with neurons stained magenta © Jesse Plotkin/Johns Hopkins University
Clive Cookson in London FEBRUARY 28 2023
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Scientists propose to develop a biological computer powered by millions of human
brain cells that they say could outperform silicon-based machines while consuming
far less energy.
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8/24/23, 2:11 PM
Scientists target ‘biocomputing’ breakthrough with use of human brain cells | Financial Times
The international team, led by Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, published in
the journal Frontiers in Science on Tuesday a detailed road map to what they call
“organoid intelligence”. The hardware will include arrays of brain organoids — tiny
three-dimensional neural structures grown from human stem cells — connected to
sensors and output devices and trained by machine learning, big data and other
techniques.
The aim is to develop an ultra-efficient system that can solve problems beyond the
reach of conventional digital computers, while aiding development in neuroscience
and other areas of medical research. The project’s ambition mirrors work on the more
advanced quantum computing but raises ethical questions around the
“consciousness” of brain organoid assemblies.
“I expect an intelligent dynamic system based on synthetic biology, but not
constrained by the many functions the brain has to serve in an organism,” said
Professor Thomas Hartung of Johns Hopkins, who has gathered a community of 40
scientists to develop the technology.
They have signed a “Baltimore declaration” calling for more research “to explore the
potential of organoid cell cultures to advance our understanding of the brain and
unleash new forms of biocomputing while recognising and addressing the associated
ethical implications”.
Developing organoid intelligence into a commercial technology could take decades,
Hartung conceded. On top of the scientific challenges there are ethical concerns about
creating “intelligence in a dish” that can learn, remember and interact with its
environment — and could develop consciousness even in rudimentary form.
An “embedded ethics” approach had been in place from the project’s launch, said
Hartung, adding: “All ethical issues will be continuously assessed by teams made up
of scientists, ethicists and the public.”
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8/24/23, 2:11 PM
Scientists target ‘biocomputing’ breakthrough with use of human brain cells | Financial Times
Thomas Hartung in his lab with dishes in which brain organoids are growing © Will Kirk/Johns Hopkins University
Madeline Lancaster, a brain organoid researcher at the Laboratory of Molecular
Biology in Cambridge, who is not connected with the project, was sceptical about its
ambitions. “This is really very much science fiction and, while intriguing, the science
just isn’t there yet,” she said. “There are huge hurdles to overcome in order to do what
the authors propose.”
Karl Friston, neuroscience professor at University College London, who is not
involved in organoid intelligence, was more positive. “It is definitely an idea worth
pursuing,” he said. “There will be many baby steps ahead but the direction of travel
could be revolutionary.”
One necessary step, Hartung said, was to enable individual organoids to grow larger
by finding a better way to suffuse them with nutrients in laboratory dishes. These tiny
neural constructs need to be scaled up from about 50,000 cells today to around 10mn
to help achieve what scientists would recognise as organoid intelligence.
Researchers are also developing technologies to link organoids together and
communicate with them, sending them information and decoding their “thoughts”.
Hartung’s lab has tested an interface, “a flexible shell that is densely covered with tiny
electrodes that can both pick up signals from the organoid and transmit signals to it”.
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8/24/23, 2:11 PM
Scientists target ‘biocomputing’ breakthrough with use of human brain cells | Financial Times
One reason for turning to biological computing is that the brain processes and stores
information so efficiently. The world’s most powerful supercomputer, the Frontier
machine at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the US, which became operational last
year, matches a single human brain for processing power — one exaflop or a billion
billion operations per second — but consumes a million times more energy.
The first applications of organoid intelligence will be in neuroscience and medicine.
Scientists are already making brain organoids from stem cells derived from patients
with neurological conditions, to compare with healthy individuals and assess their
response to drugs. Organoid intelligence would boost research into the cognitive
impairment caused by brain diseases — and its prevention.
While the technology may take decades to deliver biocomputers powerful enough to
compete with conventional silicon or quantum systems in the provision of
functionality such as artificial intelligence, proponents of organoid intelligence point
to its immense and unpredictable potential.
“I hope that we see things which are not just a copy of normal brain development,”
said Hartung.
Letter in response to this article:
The arrival of natural language search carries a heavy price / From Sheila
Hayman, Advisory Council, Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy,
London NW1, UK
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2023. All rights reserved.
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