Chinese scientists have created a “Frankenstein robot” with a human brain

Inventors are in no hurry to share their secrets

Chinese scientists have for the first time created a Frankenstein-like robot that operates using a tiny human brain. The robot operates using a laboratory-grown brain organoid, a mass of cells and a computer chip that interacts with the nervous system of the brain.

The creation of Chinese scientists is described as a “brain on a chip” that functions like the human brain, using sensors and an artificial intelligence-based algorithm that encourages the robot to move, grab objects and avoid obstacles, writes the Daily Mail.

The team of scientists argued that the brain exhibits signs of intelligence similar to humans by autonomously moving its limbs, and this could lead to the development of methods to repair damage to the human cerebral cortex and create other treatments for neurological disorders.

The team of Chinese scientists used stem cells – type of cells that form, among other things, brain tissue in the body, – to create a brain. They connected them to a computer chip that transmits instructions to the robot's body, which is a mixture of human cells and computer chips that function like a human brain.

Scientists from Tianjin University created a machine using a brain-computer interface. (BCI), which connect electrical signals coming from the brain to computer chips.

The interface is the same system used to create Elon Musk's Neuralink chip, which was implanted in a patient's brain, allowing them to control a computer with their thoughts. Neuralink is powered by a special chip built into the implant that processes signals and transmits them to the computer via a standard Bluetooth connection, the Daily Mail recalls.

However, the Chinese researchers have not shared how they transmit signals to their organoid.

According to the lead author of the study, Min Dong, to create your own “living machine” the team used pluripotent stem cells – a type of cell that exists in the early stages of embryonic development – to form organoids that divide into different types of cells found in the brain, including tissues.

Organoids – these are tiny, self-organizing three-dimensional tissue cultures derived from stem cells, explains the Daily Mail. Such cultures can be created to reproduce much of the complexity of an organ or to express specific aspects of it, for example, to produce only certain types of cells.

Scientists take stem cells and culture them for about one month until they form features such as neurons. However, the Chinese scientists did not reveal how they trained the organoid to detect when the robot should perform certain tasks.

The team said the technology still faces «bottlenecks such as low developmental rates and insufficient nutritional levels.» substances», which usually include antioxidants, fiber and minerals.

When the organoids were implanted into the brain, a functional connection was established with them using low-intensity ultrasound. Low-intensity ultrasound stimulation repairs human tissue by forming neurons that send signals from the brain, allowing the robot to move autonomously.

The researchers explained that the robot has no eyes and only responds to electrical and sensory signals sent by the neurons.

The team clarified that the pink drop in the images of the robot – this is just a cosmetic image of what the brain would look like, not the actual tissue that is still used in prototypes.

“Brain organoid transplantation is considered a promising strategy to restore brain function by replacing lost neurons and reconstructing neural circuits,” – says a study published in the South China Morning Post.

However, the research is still in the early stages of development, and it remains unclear whether organoids could ever be used to repair or reconstruct damaged brain tissue.

This comes just days after scientists in Japan transplanted human skin tissue and ligamentous structures onto a robot's face to make it display human emotions. Researchers at the University of Tokyo have published a video showing a strange, smiling robot face created from lab-grown human skin.

According to the team, robots with real skin not only have an «increasingly realistic appearance,» but and can repair themselves in case of damage.