BIO
COMPUTERS - SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
News:
What are 'bio-computers'
and how do they function?
What
is the News?
●
Scientists at Johns Hopkins University
have recently outlined a plan for a revolutionary new area of research called
“organoid intelligence”, which aims to create “bio computers”.
What
are Organoids?
●
Organoids are a group of cells grown in laboratories into three
dimensional, miniature structures that mimic
the cell arrangement of a fully-grown organ.
●
They are tiny, typically the size of pea
organ-like structures that do not achieve all the functional maturity of human
organs but often resemble the early stages of a developing tissue.
●
Most organoids contain only a subset of
all the cells seen in a real organ, but lack
blood vessels to make them fully functional.
What
is Organoids Intelligence?
●
Organoid intelligence refers to the
ability of organoids to exhibit certain behaviours or responses that are indicative of intelligence, such as
problem-solving, learning, or adapting to changing environments.
●
For example, researchers have created
brain organoids that can form neural networks and exhibit electrical activity
similar to that of a developing brain.
●
These organoids can be used to study neurological disorders and test
potential therapies.
What
are Bio-computers?
●
Biological computers use biologically derived molecules - such
as DNA and/or proteins to perform digital or real computations.
●
These computers can perform certain operations much faster than traditional electronic
computers and have the potential to revolutionize fields such as medicine and
biotechnology.
How
are researchers planning to develop bio-computers?
●
Researchers have announced plans to combine brain organoids with modern
computing methods to create “bio-computers”.
●
They have planned to couple the organoids
with machine learning by growing the organoids inside flexible structures
affixed with multiple electrodes (similar to the ones used to take EEG readings
from the brain).
●
These structures will be able to record
the firing patterns of the neurons and also deliver electrical stimuli, to
mimic sensory stimuli.
Opportunities
for “bio-computers”:
●
Brain organoids can be developed using stem cells from
individuals with neurodegenerative diseases or cognitive disorders to reveal
the biological basis of human cognition, learning, and memory.
●
“Bio-computers” could help decode the pathology of and develop drugs
for neurodevelopmental and degenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease
and microcephaly.
Challenges
for bio-computers:
●
Brain organoids have a diameter of less
than 1 mm and have fewer than 100,000 cells on average, limiting their computing capacity.
●
Researchers will have to develop microfluidic
systems to transport oxygen and nutrients and remove waste products.
●
The hybrid systems will generate large amounts of data that will need to
be stored and analyzed using “Big Data”
infrastructure and advanced analytical techniques.
●
An ethics team Is proposed to identify,
discuss, and analyze ethical issues as they arise in the course of this work.
WAY
FORWARD:
●
Biocomputers will harness the processing power of the brain and help understand the
biological basis of human cognition, learning, and various neurological
disorders.
●
Scaling
up brain organoids and developing microfluidic systems and
analytical techniques are the key challenges.
●
Ethical
issues arising from the development of biocomputers will be
analyzed by an ethics team.