Brain Cells Fused with Computer Chip
By Ker Than
LiveScience Staff Writer
posted: 27 March 2006
The line between living organisms and machines has just
become a whole lot blurrier. European researchers have developed
"neuro-chips" in which living brain cells and silicon circuits are
coupled together.
The achievement
could one day enable the creation of sophisticated neural prostheses to
treat neurological disorders or the development of organic computers
that crunch numbers using living neurons.
To create the neuro-chip,
researchers squeezed more than 16,000 electronic transistors and
hundreds of capacitors onto a silicon chip just 1 millimeter square in
size.
They used special proteins found in the brain to glue brain cells, called neurons, onto the chip. However, the proteins acted as more than just a simple adhesive.
"They
also provided the link between ionic channels of the neurons and
semiconductor material in a way that neural electrical signals could be
passed to the silicon chip," said study team member Stefano Vassanelli
from the University of Padua in Italy.
The proteins allowed the neuro-chip's electronic components and its living cells
to communicate with each other. Electrical signals from neurons were
recorded using the chip's transistors, while the chip's capacitors were
used to stimulate the neurons.
It
could still be decades before the technology is advanced enough to
treat neurological disorders or create living computers, the
researchers say, but in the nearer term, the chips could provide an
advanced method of screening drugs for the pharmaceutical industry.
"Pharmaceutical
companies could use the chip to test the effect of drugs on neurons, to
quickly discover promising avenues of research," Vassanelli said.
The
researchers are now working on ways to avoid damaging the neurons
during stimulation. The team is also exploring the possibility of using
a neuron's genetic instructions to control the neuro-chip.
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