The media talks perhaps too often about science fiction becoming scientific fact, but such discussion may be justified when it comes to recent work in China.
Researchers at Tianjin University created a robot – compared in one report to Frankenstein’s monster – that had a brain-like control centre made from a clump of nerve cells or neurons cultured in a laboratory.
This ambitious fusion of electronics and biology is one of the latest inventions in the brave new world of biocomputing.
According to a recent report by the UK-based Nuffield Council on Bioethics, technologists are increasingly looking to develop devices where organoids – tiny, lab-grown organs – are connected to sensors and output mechanisms and that, like the Tianjin robot, respond to electrical stimulation and carry out tasks.
Artificial brains in laptops?
The field of biocomputing involves much more than sci-fi robots, as clusters of neurons may have the potential to be used within computers of the kind that most of us have.
Brain organoids –tiny brain-like bundles of neurons – are typically generated from stem cells, just as tiny kidney or lung organoids have been for many years, often because they are useful research tools.
According to Dr Michael Barros, a lecturer in AI and engineering in medicine at the University of Essex in the UK, it is "absolutely" possible that even consumer electronics could in future have real neurological material embedded within them.
"It comes with a bit of a challenge because we now have to make living organisms survive alone or by themselves or have the necessary environment to do their job," he said.
"You need to keep cells alive and have a specific infrastructure for that and we have companies that are thinking about this problem."
The cells could be contained within a structure that provides them with a stable environment and protects them from the conditions of the outer environment, which may alter.
Biological material does not live for ever, so another consideration would be ensuring that the limited lifespan of the cells did not render useless the device that they were part of.
"The best estimate is that these biocomputers can live up to 200 days, so you can ... plan to replace biocomputing units every so often. That will be part of the cost of operating this sort of infrastructure," Dr Barros said.
"In our lab we’re also interested in reliability. If we’re operating with a biological system, it tends to change over time. How can we ensure that doesn’t happen or that if it does happen, it doesn’t affect the computing task?"
Replacing the trusty computer chip
A key question is why manufacturers might want to use biological material within their computers. Why not just perfect the standard silicon-chip-based device?
Andrew Jackson, a professor neural interfaces at Newcastle University in the UK, said that the answer lay in efficiency.
"In what ways are our brains better than artificial neural networks?" he said. "One of the things that our brains are very good at is performing computations, but doing it in a very power-efficient way compared to the power required to run computer-based AI systems.
" … Presumably our brains have evolved over millions of years to be very efficient information processors. One potentially interesting thing is whether we could devise artificial intelligence systems that are much more power-efficient if we leverage the principles of biology and neuroscience."
Not all researchers are convinced that brain organoids could eventually find their way into routine use in consumer electronics.
Instead, an alternative role for them may be in helping people to better understand how actual brains work, as this could lead to the creation of more efficient computers that mimic the properties of biological material.
"I would say that creating an architecture that’s more brain-like is the more likely outcome than something that mixes a cell culture and a computer," said Prof Thomas Hartung, of the Centre for Alternatives to Animal Testing at the John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in the United States.
Most of the activities with brain organoids that Prof Hartung is involved with are, he said, "virtual experiments" in which the organoid may be playing a computer game.
One possible scenario that could be seen over time is that brain organoids, potentially trained using artificial intelligence, become used within supercomputers.
This could cut the electricity demands of today’s large-scale devices, which consume vastly more energy for a given level of computing power than the human brain.
Advancing healthcare
Separate to biocomputing, brain organoids could prove useful for understanding neurodevelopmental conditions, such as autism, or neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s.
As brain organoids become more complex, ethical issues may become more prominent, although some may consider these to be dwarfed in importance by concerns over the use in laboratory experiments of more than 115 million live animals each year, according to the Humane Society International.
Prof Hartung said that brain organoid technology was "very far away" from creating a system with properties such as self-awareness or the ability to experience suffering.
In his work the brain organoids are less than half a millimetres in diameter and have fewer neurological cells than a housefly. Typically, they may consist of tens of thousands of neurons, while a human brain has tens of billions.
Nevertheless, he said that ethicists visit his facility to discuss the work and he said that it was important to consider formulating an ethical framework around what takes place while the technology is at an early stage.
"We’re having these discussions now [so] we’re coming to something where we should say there should be a limit," he said.
Prof Søren Holm, who researches bioethical issues at the University of Manchester in the UK and the University of Oslo in Norway, said that current neural technologies were not "anywhere near" the point at which organoids could develop sentience – the ability to feel things positively or negatively – or consciousness, which would enable them to not just feel pain, but understand what they were feeling.
"They’re simply not large enough or complex enough," said Prof Holm, who is a former editor-in-chief of the Journal of Medical Ethics.
"They’re order of magnitude smaller than the simplest mammalian brain. We don’t have any reason to believe the organoids we create now would have anything like sentience or consciousness."
A key technical hurdle, he said, is that organoids do not have a blood supply, which significantly limits their size and, therefore, their capabilities.
Even if they could grow to a level of complexity in which they were sentient or conscious, he said it would be "in a quite different way" to the consciousness that we experience.
"Sentience and consciousness in organoids is a very interesting question, but with what we can do with organoids now, it is not something that, for instance, a regulator needs to think about, because it’s not [for] the near future," he said.
"I would take a fairly large bet we’re not going to see sentience or consciousness in organoids for the next 20 years."
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INDIA SQUADS
India squad for third Test against Sri Lanka
Virat Kohli (capt), Murali Vijay, Lokesh Rahul, Shikhar Dhawan, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Rohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Vijay Shankar
India squad for ODI series against Sri Lanka
Rohit Sharma (capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddarth Kaul
Essentials
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly direct from the UAE to Los Angeles, from Dh4,975 return, including taxes. The flight time is 16 hours. Alaska Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Aeromexico and Southwest all fly direct from Los Angeles to San Jose del Cabo from Dh1,243 return, including taxes. The flight time is two-and-a-half hours.
The trip
Lindblad Expeditions National Geographic’s eight-day Whales Wilderness itinerary costs from US$6,190 (Dh22,736) per person, twin share, including meals, accommodation and excursions, with departures in March and April 2018.
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
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Company%20profile
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Five expert hiking tips
Always check the weather forecast before setting off
Make sure you have plenty of water
Set off early to avoid sudden weather changes in the afternoon
Wear appropriate clothing and footwear
Take your litter home with you
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The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Company Profile
Company name: NutriCal
Started: 2019
Founder: Soniya Ashar
Based: Dubai
Industry: Food Technology
Initial investment: Self-funded undisclosed amount
Future plan: Looking to raise fresh capital and expand in Saudi Arabia
Total Clients: Over 50
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
PROFILE OF HALAN
Started: November 2017
Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport and logistics
Size: 150 employees
Investment: approximately $8 million
Investors include: Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings, Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, Uber co-founder and former CTO Oscar Salazar
Race card
4pm Al Bastakiya Listed US$300,000 (Dirt) 1,900m
4.35pm Mahab Al Shimaal Group 3 $350,000 (D) 1,200m
5.10pm Nad Al Sheba Turf Group 3 $350,000 (Turf) 1,200m
5.45pm Burj Nahaar Group 3 $350,000 (D) 1,600m
6.20pm Jebel Hatta Group 1 $400,000 (T) 1,800m
6.55pm Al Maktoum Challenge Round-3 Group 1 $600,000 (D) 2,000m
7.30pm Dubai City Of Gold Group 2 $350,000 (T) 2,410m
The National selections:
4pm Zabardast
4.35pm Ibn Malik
5.10pm Space Blues
5.45pm Kimbear
6.20pm Barney Roy
6.55pm Matterhorn
7.30pm Defoe
Company%20Profile
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