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Nerve Cells Successfully Grown on Silicon

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the singing-the-body-electric dept.

crabpeople writes "Researchers at the University of Calgary have found that nerve cells grown on a microchip can learn and memorize information which can be communicated to the brain. 'We discovered that when we used the chip to stimulate the neurons, their synaptic strength was enhanced,' said Naweed Syed, a neurobiologist at the University of Calgary's faculty of medicine."

4 of 284 comments (clear)

  1. Kinda cool by hyc · · Score: 5, Interesting

    But what's the size of a neuron vs the size of a transistor in a 65nm process CPU?

    --
    -- *My* journal is more interesting than *yours*...
    1. Re:Kinda cool by Sivar · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Perhaps a key use is not to use neurons to improve silicon chips, but to do the opposite.

      Who knows, in a few decades we might have people deleting their childhood to store and smuggle hundreds of GB of information about the cure for a major epidemic that an evil pharmaceutical company is exploiting for profit.

      --
      Computer Science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes. --E. W. Dijkstra
  2. I'm no Bill Joy by ObviousGuy · · Score: 5, Interesting

    But this is very exciting. The idea that we could grow neurons on silicon is one of those big steps that looks to lead us into the Johnny Mnemonic world that Gibson was talking about just a couple stories prior to this one.

    There is a song that says, "It only takes a spark to get a fire going". So too is it true that it only takes a couple neurons to start synapsing. As these true neural webs become more complicated, it would be interesting to see if any kind of emergent behavior was evident.

    Also, with the current political and scientific climate as it is, this could be the first step to replicating a nervous system without having to rely on fetuses for stem cells. It requires no human cloning and holds immense promise.

    It would definitely be cool to have a couple of these chips implanted to enhance the base memory that we are kitted with at birth, that's for sure!

    --
    I have been pwned because my /. password was too easy to guess.
  3. Anyone read "Interface" by Stephen Bury? by Elanor · · Score: 5, Interesting

    a.k.a Neal Stephenson and his uncle.

    Chip embedded in politician's brain after a stroke - he goes on to be president.... v. spooky.

    I would love to see alzheimer's patients helped with this. If it's a genetic disease, I'm up the creek and dropped me paddle a while back.

    - Lnr