We're one step closer to a meaty cyberpunk future as scientists create a 'living computer' using 80,000 mouse brain cells

Mouse brain robot
(Image credit: University of Illinois)

Scientists in the US managed to put together a living computer by cultivating over 80,000 mouse stem cells (via IT Home). One day, the hope is to have a robot that uses living muscle tissue to sense and process information about its environment. 

Researchers at the University of Illinois have used tens of thousands of living mouse brain cells to build a computer that can recognize patterns of light and electricity. The team presented their findings at the American Institute of Physics in the form of a computer about the size of your palm. 

The scientists grew the computer, made of 80,000 reprogrammed mouse stem cells, and placed them between optical fibers on a grid of electrodes. The cells were kept alive in an incubator during the experiment, and the team trained the mouse brain-computer by flashing ten different patterns of electrical pulses repeatedly for an hour, then recorded and analyzed the signals sent by the neurons after it had rested for 30 minutes. 

Just how good was it at analyzing the data? Well, its F1 score (a metric commonly used for neural networks) didn't start off too high, in all honesty. It's measured on a scale of 0 to 1, with 1 being perfect recognition of patterns. And initially it couldn't score above 0.6 due to random spikes of electricity coming from the neurons.

Congratulations, you weird mouse brain-bot!

But Andrew Dou and his team at the University of Illinois figured out a mix of chemicals and electronic impulses that could apparently calm such randomness. The end result was a rather spectacular score of 0.98 on its best run. So, congratulations, you weird mouse brain-bot!

Why are scientists experimenting with this sort of computing? So-called reservoir computing matches neurons made from living cells with conventional computer chips used to read the data they produce. The idea is that the division of labor between meat and silicon cuts down the time and energy needed to train more traditional neural networks.

Eventually it's hoped that reservoir computing could be used to create more efficient devices, that could also maintain continued functionality if parts are damaged or break down. The New Scientist report states that at the moment this mouse brain-bot can't yet match conventional neural networks in terms of raw performance, but the team is aiming to make a larger living computer.

Peak Storage

SATA, NVMe M.2, and PCIe SSDs on blue background

(Image credit: Future)

Best SSD for gaming: the best solid state drives around
Best PCIe 4.0 SSD for gaming: the next gen has landed
The best NVMe SSD: this slivers of SSD goodness
Best external hard drives: expand your horizons
Best external SSDs: plug in upgrades for gaming laptops and consoles

Somewhat worryingly, they're also hoping this larger mouse brain-bot will start to exhibit behavior they didn't input or train the neural network for. I've read enough science fiction to know how that goes.

This isn't the first time mouse cells have been used to power wild biohybrid tech. Scientists in January revealed that they made a tiny robot walk using mouse muscles and 3D printing to build a soft scaffold and got it to navigate a tiny maze. 

One of the more realistic applications, according to New Scientist, is a robot that could eventually sense its environment and process the data simultaneously. So we're one step closer to all-meat robots. Researchers also say that living cells for computing could make reservoir computing devices (used for supreme machine learning algorithms) more power-efficient, acting as a backup for components if they fail.

And no, I'm not entirely terrified by this. Are you? 

Jorge Jimenez
Hardware writer, Human Pop-Tart

Jorge is a hardware writer from the enchanted lands of New Jersey. When he's not filling the office with the smell of Pop-Tarts, he's reviewing all sorts of gaming hardware, from laptops with the latest mobile GPUs to gaming chairs with built-in back massagers. He's been covering games and tech for over ten years and has written for Dualshockers, WCCFtech, Tom's Guide, and a bunch of other places on the world wide web. 

Read more
The Cortical Labs CL1 biological computer
The world's first 'body in a box' biological computer costs $35,000 and looks both cool as hell plus creepy as heck
Virtual human head divided into horizontal layers in various skin tones.
The future of robots is looking ever more meaty as MIT researchers grow first bidirectional muscle tissue machine
gotg llama
Blasting AI into the past: Modders get Llama AI working on an old Windows 98 PC
Microsoft Majorana 1 quantum processor
Microsoft's wacky Majorana 1 chip, powered by an 'entirely new state of matter', could have industrial quantum computing here 'in years, not decades'
CHONGQING, CHINA - OCTOBER 30: In this photo illustration - The Facebook app page is displayed on a smartphone in the Apple App Store in front of the Meta Platforms, inc. logo on October 30, 2024 in Chongqing, China. (Photo by Cheng Xin/Getty Images)
Meta might've done something useful, pioneering an AI model that can interpret brain activity into sentences with 80% accuracy
Various creations in Minecraft, including computers and calculators.
This Minecraft creation blots out the sun for the villagers below, they surely praise it as God, but we know it really to be a functioning 32-bit computer with 2 kB of RAM
Latest in Hardware
A Gigabyte RTX 5070 Ti Eagle OC Ice on a desk and installed in a gaming PC.
Gigabyte GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Eagle OC Ice SFF review
A late afternoon view shows two young women walking past a wall-sized anime mural along Chuo-dori (Central Avenue) in the Akihabara district (known as Electric Town for its maze of electronics stores, but currently considered an almost sacred destination by members of Japan's otaku culture, drawn to Akihabara's video game centers, maid cafes, anime shops, and manga comics), located in Chiyoda Ward in central Tokyo, Japan.
OpenAI's GPT-4o model gets image generation update for all of your anime-style selfie needs
A Nacon Rig Streamstar M2 microphone on white gravel, shot in 3/4 profile
Nacon Rig M2 Streamstar review
1X Technologies humanoid robot, the Neo Gamma, standing alongside Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. Huang is wearing an ERL-made studded leather jacket.
Humanoid robot Neo Gamma gifts Nvidia CEO a studded leather jacket and may even be able to one day wash up a cup without dropping it
Razer Blade 16 (2025) gaming laptop
Nvidia RTX 5090 mobile tested: The needle hasn't moved on performance but this is the first time I'd consider ditching my desktop for a gaming laptop
A woman wearing a VR headset with dramatic, colourful lighting across the background
'World’s smallest LEDs' could lead to accurately lit screens with 127,000 pixels per inch and much more immersive VR
Latest in News
A screenshot from SaGa Frontier 2, showing one of the protagonists wandering through a quaint fantasy village
One of Square Enix' most underrated PlayStation-era JRPGs just shadow dropped on Steam
The titular character from Princess Mononoke is depicted riding the wolf goddess Moro and carrying a spear.
Studio Ghibli AI image trend floods social media, cheered on by OpenAI and denounced by critics as an insult to Hayao Miyazaki
Marvel Rivals tier list - Wolverine
Marvel Rivals director says a future patch will reduce the shooter's insatiable hunger for RAM: 'It's a very big problem'
Hogwarts Legacy potions professor holding a potion
An unannounced Hogwarts Legacy expansion and 'definitive edition' have reportedly been cancelled
Story of Seasons - A cahacter in a purple tuxedo stands outside in a town square talking to the player
Story of Seasons is doing another Harvest Moon remake and it might be the best the series has ever looked
Assassin's Creed Shadows change seasons - An upper-body shot of Yasuke looking cheerfully up into the distance.
Assassin's Creed Shadows puts up the 'second highest day-one sales revenue in Assassin's Creed franchise history'