tech
March 11, 2026
Scientists complete first-ever ‘virtual brain upload’
Scientists have achieved the first full upload of a fly brain, with the digital copy controlling a virtual body in a physics simulation
TL;DR
- Eon Systems has created the first complete digital replica of a fruit fly's brain.
- The virtual brain controls a simulated fly body, exhibiting natural behaviors like walking and grooming.
- The digital fly's actions emerge from a direct, neuron-by-neuron copy of a biological brain, not from AI training.
- The feat builds on previous research mapping the fruit fly's connectome (140,000 neurons and 50 million synaptic connections).
- The digital brain was integrated with a physics-simulated fly body using Google DeepMind's MuJoCo engine.
- Eon aims to emulate a mouse brain next, followed by an attempt at a human brain upload.
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