In a world first, Harvard biologists worked with Google to diagram a cubic millimeter of human cerebral cortex at the subcellular level, paving the way for the next generation of brain science.

In 2014, a woman undergoing surgery for epilepsy had a tiny chunk of her cerebral cortex removed. This cubic millimeter of tissue has allowed Harvard and Google researchers to produce the most detailed wiring diagram of the human brain that the world has ever seen.

Biologists and machine-learning experts spent 10 years building an interactive map of the brain tissue, which contains approximately 57,000 cells and 150 million synapses. It shows cells that wrap around themselves, pairs of cells that seem mirrored, and egg-shaped “objects” that, according to the research, defy categorization. This mind-blowingly complex diagram is expected to help drive forward scientific research, from understanding human neural circuits to potential treatments for disorders.

  • technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
    312·
    4 months ago

    At the time, it was assumed that genes and traits had a mostly one-to-one correspondence.

    Assumed… By those seeking funding.

    • ripcord@lemmy.worldEnglish
      5·
      4 months ago

      Yes, yes. Everything and everyone is bad, and has ill-intent all the time. We hear you.

    • TheGrandNagus@lemmy.worldEnglish
      2·
      4 months ago

      Yeah. All the biologists had their secret sinister meeting, where they came up with the evil idea that gene X did Y

      Then, once the public believed it, something something PROFIT!

      Oh those evil scientists! Curse them! Curse them all to hell! Down with their dastardly deception!