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Senior neuroscientists have attacked the Human Brain Project, a billion-pound European Commission initiative aiming to simulate the human brain.
An open letter to the EC from over 200 scientists says the project is "not on course", pre-empting a scheduled review.
They ask that the review be transparent and carried out by top neuroscientists not affiliated with the HBP.
If the letter is not heeded, they have pledged to boycott associated funds.
The project's figurehead, Prof Henry Markram from the EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) in Switzerland, says the criticisms are "premature" and likens the debate to the backlash faced by the Human Genome Project.
Instead of sequencing all of our DNA, the Human Brain Project aims to compile what we know about brain cells and networks and use a new generation of supercomputers to model how the brain functions.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-28193790
An open letter to the EC from over 200 scientists says the project is "not on course", pre-empting a scheduled review.
They ask that the review be transparent and carried out by top neuroscientists not affiliated with the HBP.
If the letter is not heeded, they have pledged to boycott associated funds.
The project's figurehead, Prof Henry Markram from the EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) in Switzerland, says the criticisms are "premature" and likens the debate to the backlash faced by the Human Genome Project.
Instead of sequencing all of our DNA, the Human Brain Project aims to compile what we know about brain cells and networks and use a new generation of supercomputers to model how the brain functions.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-28193790