Researchers from the OpenWorm project have successfully coded a worm’s brain and placed it in a robot made of Legos, enabling the device to move similarly to how a worm does.
The researchers first mapped the neural connections of parasitic roundworms, translated that information into software, and downloaded the code to a Lego robot. “If we cannot build a computer model of a worm, the most studied organism in all of biology, we don’t stand a chance to understand something as complex as the human brain,” the researchers say.
The research eventually could lead the way to more effective treatment or possible cures for diseases such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.
The OpenWorm project opted to use the roundworm because of its simple structure of just 1,000 cells, of which just 302 comprise neurons. The roundworm also has just 7,000 connections or synapses, and its transparent skin enables scientists to track each individual cell by injecting a dye.
The OpenWorm project is a global collaborative and open source effort, which includes researchers from the U.S., U.K., and other nations. The project hopes to completely replicate the entire nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans, not only its brain.
New York Daily News (12/15/14) Lee Moran
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