Harnessing human brain cells to create biocomputers

JMIR Publications today released a feature story on the emerging field of biocomputing in its News and Perspectives section. Authored by science journalist Simon Spichak, MSc, "Biocomputing: Beyond the Hype" investigates how biotech companies like Cortical Labs and FinalSpark harness human brain cells to electrodes, performing computational functions and testing the cells' responses to electrical and chemical stimuli. To create biocomputers, scientists grow organoids-small spheres of, in this case, neural tissue-on top of multi-electrode arrays in a hardware shell, which can then be used for everything from testing medications to playing video games. 

Uses for biocomputers

While biocomputing technology is still nascent, early and potential applications are promising, Spichak reports; these uses include:

• Remote access for researchers: FinalSpark and Cortical Labs have both taken a cloud approach to their product delivery, providing researchers with remote access to their biocomputing hardware to run experiments.

• Energy-efficient computing: Biocomputing consumes far less energy than artificial neural networks and other conventional computational models; it also, according to Brett Kagan, PhD, Cortical Labs chief scientific officer and one of JMIR Publications' expert sources, can learn with far less data and more chaotic data, compared to artificial intelligence.

• Drug discovery: Researchers have begun using biocomputing platforms to test the effects of different experimental medications on brain organoid learning. 

• Neuromorphic engineering: Johns Hopkins professor and expert source Thomas Hartung, MD, PhD believes biocomputing technology could potentially be used as a stepping stone for the development of neuromorphic systems: artificial neurons that mimic the structure and function of the human brain. 

Potential bioethical risks

Scientists have been taking a proactive approach to ethical concerns in biocomputing, consulting with bioethicists to address potential risks before they arise. "The brain organoids used for biocomputing," Spichak writes, "raise similar concerns to stem cell and organoid research including the moral status and development of potential consciousness in more advanced models, informed consent from donors, and issues around commercialization, ownership and patents."

The future of biocomputing

At the moment, biocomputing is limited by the unpredictability of the organoids' activity, which complicates training. But as researchers' understanding of this nascent field develops, biocomputing may have major implications for biomedical research.