If you have seen the Netflix Altered Carbon series, you have fantasized about the idea that in the future it will be possible to create a backup copy of our brain and then load it in different “cases”.
Well, maybe this possibility is not such a crazy idea, at least if we give credibility to Nectome, a startup that ensures that it is capable of preserving the brain to create a digital copy with the technology of the future and thus be able to recreate your conscience. However, the technique is not without risks precisely: the process to capture the mind kills the host.
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Nectome is a startup founded in 2016 by two researchers from the artificial intelligence division of MIT. The preservation process that they offer is called cryopreservation stabilized with aldehyde or vitrification and it is a high technology embalmment that would allow mapping the connectome, that is, the synapses between brain neurons.
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In this way, according to its developers, it could remain intact for hundreds and even thousands of years. “We believe that within the current century it will be possible to digitize this information and use it to recreate your conscience,” the company explains on its website.
However, as we said the process necessary to preserve the brain is fatal. For the operation to be successful it is necessary that the person is alive, but when applying the embalming liquids the patient dies irremediably.
Nectome has tested the vitrification procedure on animal models and has won the Brain Preservation Award for keeping the connectome of a complete rabbit, but it still does not have the necessary technology to be able to charge the brain in the cloud.
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Although it may seem like a crazy idea, Nectome is receiving the attention of renowned neuroscientists, such as Edward Boyden of MIT. In addition, although the company’s services are not yet available and probably will not be available for several years, there is already a waiting list of people who would like to keep their brains. So far 25 people have signed up for $10,000, reimbursable if the user changes his mind.
So, what do you think about this? Simply share all your thoughts and opinions in the comment section below.