We Are Witnessing The Birth Of Bio-Neuro Circuitry

I’ve watched science fiction shows on TV and read sci-fi books and magazines since I was knee high to a grasshopper, but reading the news story over at Nature.com about how scientists have successfully melded living organisms and electronic circuits made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Here’s a snippit from that story:

Living bacteria have been incorporated into an electronic circuit to produce a sensitive humidity gauge.

This is essentially a first step towards a biological computer, and would have many applications,” says Steve Ripp, a biotechnologist at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Ripp was part of a team that developed a sensor that relied on glowing bacteria to detect chemicals. But in their system, the electronic circuits were simply reacting to the bugs, and they weren’t hooked up to each other, he notes. Saraf’s humidity sensor melds the two together.

Ripp says that interest in these cellborg circuits is growing fast. “If you detect a chemical with a biological device, you not only sense its presence but also its effect on a living system,” he says.

Ever watch the Star Trek spinoffs like The Next Generation or Voyager, where the starships use bio-neuro circuitry? Folks, those futuristic TV programs set 300-400 years in the future may not be as far fetched as we all thought.

With all these advancements in technology, what will it really be like 300 years from now?

[Source: Nature.com Via: We Make Money Not Art]