“Brainoware”: Biocomputer Combining Circuits with Human Brain Tissue
December 13th, 2023Via: Study Finds:
In what seems like a scene from a science-fiction movie, scientists from Indiana University have constructed a hybrid biocomputer that combines laboratory-grown human brain tissue with traditional circuits. This innovative technology, known as Brainoware, has the potential to integrate into artificial intelligence (AI) systems and advance neuroscience research models of the human brain.
Brainoware incorporates brain organoids, clusters of human cells that mimic organ tissue. Organoids are created from stem cells that have the ability to develop into various types of cells, including neurons similar to those found in the human brain.
The goal of this research is to establish a connection between AI and organoids, as both systems rely on transmitting signals through interconnected nodes forming a neural network.
“We wanted to ask the question of whether we can leverage the biological neural network within the brain organoid for computing,” says study co-author Feng Guo, a bioengineer at Indiana University, in a media release.