Bioinformatics: A Computer from Human Brain Cells?
In a study published last year, researchers from Johns Hopkins University said: They formulated,
“Biocomputers” powered by human brain cells may arrive within our lifetimes.
But what do we mean by a biocomputer and how can the brain operate a computer?
Few people think about it, but Neurons in the human brain actually communicate with electrical signals and understand the world around them in much the same way that computers do. This common point, combined with the rapidly evolving gene surgery procedures of recent decades, has given birth to a new field within the ranks of biotechnology: this Bioinformatics.
The basis of this technology, which is still in the experimental stage, is: organic They are essentially tissues grown in lab conditions, from which researchers can create functional organs – in this case, a miniature version of the human brain. That's why they're called that. To organic intelligence (Oi) also.
The structures created in this way should not be conceived of as perfect replicas of existing organs in the human body. Instead, They are small groups of cells that can perform functions similar to some human organs at the cellular level.
For example, artificially implanted neurons can solve logical tasks and can be taught, just like the human brain.
Biocomputer in practice
Although we still have to wait until biologically based computers become suitable for everyday tasks, important experiments in the field of bioinformatics are underway, and there are already partial results in this field.
Founded in 2022, Dishebrine A named organic system, for example In five hours he learned how to handle one of the first games in history. – Still primitive – your video game1972 version of Bong.
Although DishBrain never became a true pro at the game—and often missed shots—the Australian discovery is considered a pioneer in the field of bioinformatics, because it was the first time an artificial brain was connected to an external environment (in this case, the game), and then the system interacted with it as well.
During the project approximately 800,000 brain cells implanted Connected to fine mesh-like electrodes which Where they were able to read their activity and stimulate them with electrical signals.
However, it is important to note that the system was not able to play the game in the traditional sense: the researchers worked on a virtual version of the original video game. The cells themselves acted in the game as a simple rectangular paddle, and the signals generated by the electrodes indicated the location of the ball. The neurons had to send signals back to “move” the virtual paddle.
It's already today Cortical Labs The company operating under this name has evolved a lot since then and has seen several successful capital raisings. Their current prototype already constitutes a system reminiscent of the appearance of ordinary computers. Of course, in terms of its operation, we are talking about more complex structures, since the working chip in it, controlled by brain cells, must completely solve its existence.
There are also projects that at first glance seem closer to the half-human, half-machine structures known in science fiction stories than to reality. Researchers from Tianjin University According to their claim They created memberships for that.
It attaches to the head of the humanoid robot, can control its arms and legs, and basically acts as a human with an artificial mind.
However, the photos published by the university Just life size models.So in reality I might MetabookThe system's organic objects, known as petri dishes, are also stored in place of the robot's helmets.
Similar to the previous example, the MetaBOC's “brain” perceives the world around it using electrical signals.
the FinalSpark A Swiss startup called Already has built a service that is already usable on its computers powered by artificial brain cells.
The company rents out its biocomputers, which work with tiny brain organoids half a millimeter in size, to researchers who want to experiment with them.
the For the neural platform In the so-called system, incubators keep spherical clusters of cells alive, which are then connected to a computer using tiny electrodes.
In order to make the learning of organic intelligence more effective, the Swiss researchers release dopamine into the system, similar to the known reactions of the human brain, thus motivating and “rewarding” them if they succeed in performing a specific task well.
It can be a million times better in terms of energy efficiency.
From the leading examples above, it is clear that although it could be suitable for very interesting solutions, organic intelligence is currently only spreading its wings and scientists are only testing its possibilities.
However, there are areas where biocomputers could outperform, researchers say, AI-based machines, which are currently the pinnacle of computing technology.
The advantages of artificial brain cells used in bioinformatics are manifested in more efficient use of energy and complex logical tasks.
According to data published last week, Google Its energy-related emissions increased by 37% in 2023 compared to the previous year, mainly due to the huge energy demand of data centers that are essential for developing AI models. According to the company, these numbers will continue to rise in the future, due to the need to build the appropriate infrastructure.
Google isn't the only company whose energy needs have increased dramatically with the arrival of the “age of artificial intelligence”: OpenAIAlso supports To Microsoft also jumped significantly Carbon dioxide emissions. It is true that Bill Gates is optimistic about the situation. According to his idea, thanks to the current significant developments in the field of artificial intelligence, emissions will be significantly reduced in the future.
The human brain is more energy efficient than artificial intelligence powered by traditional computers. CNN He highlighted this in one of his articles.
The world's most intelligent computer, Frontier, which this year surpassed humans in computing power, consumes a million times more energy than any of our brains.
The other side of the advantages of organic intelligence lies in human reasoning. Computers and Although AI is able to process large amounts of digital data more efficiently and quickly, it can exhaust people on very simple logical tasks. Only what certain sites require is enough. CAPTCHA Test For tests I think, which is intended to distinguish between real users and bots.
The picture is slightly clouded by the fact that the development of artificial intelligence has also presented new challenges for the CAPTCHA system – previously clear image tasks have been replaced by “synonyms” (for example in the task “identify the ways from the picture” in many places to get a correct answer), and human interaction has also appeared, i.e. monitoring mouse movements.
“Nobody can regulate this yet, because we don’t understand it well enough.”
To teach organic intelligence, scientists must reward and punish cells based on how the human brain works in some way. As bioinformatics advances, the following question becomes more important:
Is it ethical to use these living human cells for such arbitrary things?
This may arise specifically due to one reason: It also comes to mind in experiments on animals or humans.Real tissues are used to grow brain cells used in organoid systems, so they are created in vain. The organism under laboratory conditions, can even be considered a human being.
However, everyone would probably agree that thought experiments and conscious beings fall under a completely different ethical category than what happens when scientists work with inorganic materials.
One: Dealing with this issue Stady According to him, this problem can be better formulated in that
There is no universal, objective measure of when something is considered a conscious being.
Cortical Labs Principal Investigator Brett Kagan is one of them. In an interview Tell me about it It does not equate lab-grown brain cells with human or animal life forms. In his reading, artificial brains trained to perform various tasks do not actually act consciously, and he added that they cannot therefore be interpreted by the same moral standards as humans.
What cells exhibit is not consciousness; it is simply what happens to a complex system in an organized information environment.
In their experiment, Kagan said, this informational environment was the game that reached the brain cells via electrical signals.
According to the researcher, there are no ethical concerns at this time, but he acknowledges that others often consider this type of use of biotechnology unethical.
Nobody can organize this yet, because we don't understand it well enough.
Kagan spoke about possible global regulations. According to him, the goal at the moment is to understand the technology well, because only then will people trust that researchers are acting ethically in everything.
Cover image is an illustration. Cover image source: Getty Images
