Small spheres of neurons show promise for drug testing and computation. In parallel with recent developments in machine learning like GPT-4, a group of scientists has recently proposed the use of neural tissue itself, carefully grown to re-create the structures of the animal brain, as a computational substrate. By Michael Nolan.
Gathering developments from the fields of computer science, electrical engineering, neurobiology, electrophysiology, and pharmacology, the authors propose a new research initiative they call “organoid intelligence.”
The development of organoids has been made possible by two bioengineering breakthroughs: induced pluripotent stem cells and 3D-cell-culturing techniques.
Organoids typically measure 500 micrometers in diameter—roughly the thickness of your fingernail. As organoids develop, the researchers say, their constituent neurons begin to interconnect in networks and patterns of activity that mimic the structures of different brain regions. The development of the organoids field has been made possible by two bioengineering breakthroughs: induced pluripotent stem cells (IPSCs) and 3D-cell-culturing techniques. Super interesting read!
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