Zongwu Fan DESMA 9 Week 6 Post

Human body is one of the most sophisticated system on planet earth, and as our biological technology progressing rapidly in the past few decades, we are unlocking the puzzle of our own. Taking human brain as an example, our brain is the most sophisticated network among all species on earth, which is the reason why we are the predominant intelligent life that inhibit on this planet. A very simple way to describe our brain is the term 'biological computer'. Our brain is basically a computer that operate our entire body. When we want to do something (action, speaking etc.), our brain sends electrical pulse through neuro network to give order for our body. In figure 1, there is a art work that vividly depict our brain by combining brain with circuit board.

Figure 1. This figure shows the brain with a typical circuit board plot

In figure 2, we see a brain graph with those spark points, which represent the electrical pulse that travels through our neuro network. 

Figure 2. Brain graph

Although our technology is progressing exponentially in the past decades, there are still many questions of our brain that we do not understand yet. Brain simulation research has been a hot spot among all other brain research after we entered 21st century. The idea behind this is to using a computer to simulate human brain, and if we can achieve this through a silicon chips based computer, it will be a huge revolution to artificial intelligence since we might be able to build a robot with human brain (simulated program). A organization called 'Human Brain Project' is currently working on brain mapping and simulation, and here is link for a intro video on mouse brain simulation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldXEuUVkDuw. 

 Figure 3. This figure shows a brain mapping graph done researchers at USC.

Reference:

"Biotech's Explosive Evolution Outpaces Moore's Law : DNews." DNews. Web. 08 May 2016.
http://news.discovery.com/tech/biotechnology/biotech-explosive-evolution-130514.htm


"LEE LAB." LEE LAB. Web. 08 May 2016.
http://leelab.cnbc.cmu.edu/

"Brain Mapping -Chassity Gentry." Emaze Presentations. Web. 08 May 2016.
https://www.emaze.com/@ALIZWITC/Brain-Mapping--Chassity-Gentry 

"Weird Science: Biotechnology as Art Form." ARTnews. Web. 08 May 2016.
http://www.artnews.com/2013/03/18/biotechnology-as-art-form/

"Overview." The Human Brain Project. Web. 08 May 2016.
https://www.humanbrainproject.eu/

"USC Scientists Arthur Toga, Paul Thompson Are on the Cutting Edge of Brain Mapping." USC News. Web. 8 May 2016.
https://news.usc.edu/77654/77654-usc-scientists-arthur-toga-paul-thompson-are-on-the-cutting-edge-of-brain-mapping/