Thomas Hartung, professor of environmental health at the School of Public Health
This opens up opportunities to explore howthe human brain works,” Hartung said. “Because you can start manipulating the system, doing things that are unethical to do with the human brain.”
Hartung started growing and harvesting brain cellsinto functional organelles in 2012 using cells from human skin samples reprogrammed into a state similar to embryonic stem cells. Each organelle contains about 50,000 cells, about the size of the nervous system of a fruit fly. Now he proposes to build a futuristic computer with such brain organelles.
Organoid close up
According to Hartung, computers running onthis "biological hardware" in the next decade will be able to reduce the power requirements of supercomputers, which are becoming increasingly unstable. Even though computers process numbers and data calculations faster than humans, the brain is much smarter at making complex logical decisions, like telling a dog from a cat.
“The brain is still unmatched inmodern computers,” Hartung said. Frontier, the latest supercomputer in Kentucky, costs $600 million and covers an area of 630 square meters. m. Only in June of last year, he for the first time exceeded the processing power of one human brain, but used a million times more energy.
According to Hartung, decades may pass,before organoid intelligence can power a system as smart as a mouse. But by increasing the production of brain organoids and training them for artificial intelligence, he envisions a future in which biocomputers will deliver superior computing speed, processing power, data efficiency, and storage capabilities.
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