AlphaGalileo Foundation. “Human Brain Could Be Replicated In 10 Years, Researcher Predicts.” sciencedaily.com. ScienceDaily, 4 September 2009. Web. 16 May 2014. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090904071908.htm
This source claims that within ten years (approximately 2019) a model of the human brain may be replicated and used as an educational research tool in order to better understand the complexities of the human brain. Neuroscientist Professor Henry Markram of the Brain Mind Institute in Switzerland claims that the only reason why the brain model hasn’t been created yet is due to financial circumstances. Markram wants to use this brain in order to study various brain diseases; he plans on putting the brain model on a “massive supercomputer [to] serve as a kind of educational and diagnostic service to society” (AlphaGalileo Foundation). Markram also expects this brain model to replace the need for animal experimentation as a means to better understanding the brain’s functions and complexities. I think this source is credible and unbiased, and I think the relationship between the human brain (nature) and using a digital platform to better understand it is fitting with the Greening through IT philosophy. I also think on an environmental level, the use of a supercomputer might yield a substantial amount of energy in order to power and maintain it, but the benefit of better understanding how the brain functions would (hopefully) outweigh the amount of energy needed to maintain a “massive supercomputer.” I think the human brain functions as an electrical/chemical platform on its own, so placing it within a digital realm is appropriate and would allow researchers to better evaluate its behavior. I think the most significant aspect of this project is the elimination of animal experimentation; it’s odd to me that animal experimentation still occurs and the outcome of it is still somewhat unclear. Markham states himself that “At present, there is no brain disease for which we really understand what has gone wrong in the processing, […] circuits, neurons or synapses,” so the “millions of animal experiments each year” seem like biological waste and not empirical research.
