<s>
A	O
wetware	B-General_Concept
computer	I-General_Concept
is	O
an	O
organic	O
computer	O
(	O
which	O
can	O
also	O
be	O
known	O
as	O
an	O
artificial	B-General_Concept
organic	I-General_Concept
brain	I-General_Concept
or	O
a	O
neurocomputer	O
)	O
composed	O
of	O
organic	O
material	O
"	O
wetware	O
"	O
such	O
as	O
"	O
living	O
"	O
neurons	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Wetware	B-General_Concept
computers	I-General_Concept
composed	O
of	O
neurons	O
are	O
different	O
than	O
conventional	O
computers	O
because	O
they	O
are	O
thought	O
to	O
be	O
capable	O
in	O
a	O
way	O
of	O
"	O
thinking	O
for	O
themselves	O
"	O
,	O
because	O
of	O
the	O
dynamic	O
nature	O
of	O
neurons	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
a	O
wetware	B-General_Concept
computer	I-General_Concept
is	O
still	O
largely	O
conceptual	O
,	O
there	O
has	O
been	O
limited	O
success	O
with	O
construction	O
and	O
prototyping	O
,	O
which	O
has	O
acted	O
as	O
a	O
proof	O
of	O
the	O
concept	O
's	O
realistic	O
application	O
to	O
computing	O
in	O
the	O
future	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Moore	O
’s	O
law	O
,	O
which	O
states	O
that	O
the	O
number	O
of	O
transistors	B-Application
which	O
can	O
be	O
placed	O
on	O
a	O
silicon	O
chip	O
is	O
doubled	O
roughly	O
every	O
two	O
years	O
,	O
has	O
acted	O
as	O
a	O
goal	O
for	O
the	O
industry	O
for	O
decades	O
,	O
but	O
as	O
the	O
size	O
of	O
computers	O
continues	O
to	O
decrease	O
,	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
meet	O
this	O
goal	O
has	O
become	O
more	O
difficult	O
,	O
threatening	O
to	O
reach	O
a	O
plateau	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Due	O
to	O
the	O
difficulty	O
in	O
reducing	O
the	O
size	O
of	O
computers	O
because	O
of	O
size	O
limitations	O
of	O
transistors	B-Application
and	O
integrated	O
circuits	O
,	O
wetware	O
provides	O
an	O
unconventional	B-Device
alternative	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
wetware	B-General_Concept
computer	I-General_Concept
composed	O
of	O
neurons	O
is	O
an	O
ideal	O
concept	O
because	O
,	O
unlike	O
conventional	O
materials	O
which	O
operate	O
in	O
binary	O
(	O
on/off	O
)	O
,	O
a	O
neuron	O
can	O
shift	O
between	O
thousands	O
of	O
states	O
,	O
constantly	O
altering	O
its	O
chemical	O
conformation	O
,	O
and	O
redirecting	O
electrical	O
pulses	O
through	O
over	O
200,000	O
channels	O
in	O
any	O
of	O
its	O
many	O
synaptic	O
connections	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
concept	O
of	O
wetware	O
is	O
distinct	O
and	O
unconventional	B-Device
,	O
and	O
draws	O
slight	O
resonance	O
with	O
both	O
hardware	B-Architecture
and	O
software	O
from	O
conventional	O
computers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
hardware	B-Architecture
is	O
understood	O
as	O
the	O
physical	O
architecture	O
of	O
traditional	O
computational	O
devices	O
,	O
built	O
from	O
electrical	O
circuitry	O
and	O
silicone	O
plates	O
,	O
software	O
represents	O
the	O
encoded	O
architecture	O
of	O
storage	O
and	O
instructions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
wetware	O
the	O
ideas	O
of	O
hardware	B-Architecture
and	O
software	O
are	O
intertwined	O
and	O
interdependent	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
combination	O
of	O
“	O
hardware	B-Architecture
”	O
and	O
“	O
software	O
”	O
into	O
one	O
dynamic	O
,	O
and	O
interdependent	O
system	O
which	O
utilizes	O
organic	O
molecules	O
and	O
complexes	O
to	O
create	O
an	O
unconventional	B-Device
model	O
for	O
computational	O
devices	O
is	O
a	O
specific	O
example	O
of	O
applied	O
biorobotics	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1999	O
William	O
Ditto	O
and	O
his	O
team	O
of	O
researchers	O
at	O
Georgia	O
Institute	O
of	O
technology	O
and	O
Emory	O
University	O
created	O
a	O
basic	O
form	O
of	O
a	O
wetware	B-General_Concept
computer	I-General_Concept
capable	O
of	O
simple	O
addition	O
by	O
harnessing	O
leech	O
neurons	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Fitch	O
discusses	O
the	O
idea	O
of	O
nano-intentionality	O
,	O
specifically	O
in	O
regards	O
to	O
neurons	O
,	O
in	O
their	O
ability	O
to	O
adjust	O
rearrangements	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
create	O
neural	B-Architecture
networks	I-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
a	O
review	O
of	O
the	O
above-mentioned	O
research	O
conducted	O
by	O
Fitch	O
,	O
Daniel	O
Dennett	O
,	O
a	O
professor	O
at	O
Tufts	O
University	O
,	O
discusses	O
the	O
importance	O
of	O
the	O
distinction	O
between	O
the	O
concept	O
of	O
hardware	B-Architecture
and	O
software	O
when	O
evaluating	O
the	O
idea	O
of	O
wetware	O
and	O
organic	O
material	O
such	O
as	O
neurons	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Dennett	O
disagrees	O
with	O
Fitch	O
on	O
certain	O
areas	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
relationship	O
of	O
software/hardware	O
versus	O
wetware	O
,	O
and	O
what	O
a	O
machine	O
with	O
wetware	O
might	O
be	O
capable	O
of	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Wetware	B-General_Concept
computers	I-General_Concept
may	O
be	O
useful	O
for	O
research	O
about	O
brain	O
diseases	O
and	O
brain	O
health/capacities	O
(	O
for	O
testing	O
therapies	O
targeting	O
the	O
brain	O
)	O
,	O
for	O
drug	O
discovery	O
,	O
for	O
testing	O
genome	O
edits	O
and	O
research	O
about	O
brain	O
aging	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Wetware	B-General_Concept
computers	I-General_Concept
may	O
have	O
substantial	O
ethical	O
implications	O
,	O
for	O
instance	O
related	O
to	O
possible	O
potentials	O
to	O
sentience	O
and	O
suffering	O
and	O
dual-use	O
technology	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Connecting	B-Application
cerebral	O
organoids	O
(	O
including	O
computer-like	O
wetware	O
)	O
with	O
other	O
nerve	O
tissues	O
may	O
become	O
feasible	O
in	O
the	O
future	O
,	O
as	O
is	O
the	O
connection	O
of	O
physical	O
artificial	O
neurons	O
(	O
not	O
necessarily	O
organic	O
)	O
and	O
the	O
control	O
of	O
muscle	O
tissue	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
late	O
2021	O
,	O
scientists	O
,	O
including	O
two	O
from	O
Cortical	O
Labs	O
,	O
demonstrated	O
that	O
grown	O
brain	O
cells	O
integrated	O
into	B-Application
digital	I-Application
systems	I-Application
can	O
carry	O
out	O
goal-directed	O
tasks	O
with	O
performance-scores	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
particular	O
,	O
the	O
human	O
brain	O
cells	O
learned	O
to	O
play	O
a	O
simulated	O
(	O
via	O
electrophysiological	O
stimulation	O
)	O
Pong	B-Application
which	O
they	O
learned	O
faster	O
than	O
known	O
machine	O
intelligence	O
systems	O
,	O
albeit	O
to	O
a	O
lower	O
skill-level	O
than	O
both	O
AI	O
and	O
humans	O
each	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Also	O
in	O
December	O
2021	O
,	O
researchers	O
from	O
Max	O
Planck	O
Institute	O
for	O
Polymer	B-Language
Research	O
reported	O
the	O
development	O
of	O
organic	O
low-power	O
neuromorphic	O
electronics	O
which	O
they	O
built	O
into	O
a	O
robot	O
,	O
enabling	O
it	O
to	O
learn	O
sensorimotorically	O
within	O
the	O
real	O
world	O
,	O
rather	O
than	O
via	O
simulations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
the	O
chip	O
,	O
polymers	B-Language
were	O
used	O
and	O
coated	O
with	O
an	O
ion-rich	O
gel	O
to	O
enable	O
the	O
material	O
to	O
carry	O
an	O
electric	O
charge	O
like	O
real	O
neurons	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2022	O
,	O
researchers	O
from	O
the	O
Max	O
Planck	O
Institute	O
for	O
Polymer	B-Language
Research	O
,	O
demonstrated	O
an	O
artificial	O
spiking	O
neuron	O
based	O
on	O
polymers	B-Language
that	O
operates	O
in	O
the	O
biological	O
wetware	O
,	O
enabling	O
synergetic	O
operation	O
between	O
the	O
artificial	O
and	O
biological	O
components	O
.	O
</s>
