In a laboratory outside Cambridge sits a remarkable “biological computer”. Its 200,000 human brain cells, grown in the lab, lie on silicon circuitry that communicates their synchronised electrical activity on a screen to the outside world.

The CL1 device, about the size of two shoe boxes, was developed by Australian start-up Cortical Labs with the UK’s bit.bio, in a bid to create “synthetic biological intelligence” — a new form of computing that could offer opportunities beyond conventional electronics and other developing technologies such as quantum.

“Like our brains, biological computers will consume many orders of magnitude less energy than conventional electronics as they process information. Future applications could include robotics, security and the metaverse,” Cortical Labs chief executive Hon Weng Chong told the Financial Times.