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SA scientist granted EUR 1 billion grant to draw digital map of brain

SA scientist granted EUR 1 billion grant to draw digital map of brain

Date: 2013-04-05
The eyes of the Nobel committee might turn to South Africa in the predictable future, as a neuroscientist from Cape Town receives a grant that would easily equal the GDP of a small country.

A record-breaking EUR 1 billion will be paid out over 10 years to South African neuroscientist Henry Markram, who is a resident scientist at theSwiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne.

His groundbreaking research into re-creating the intrinsic connections within a human brain digitally by using large supercomputers will effectively map out brain functions and provide insights into many diseases such as Alzheimer's and Autism.

Markram, whose son is afflicted with autism, commented on his ambitious project: "What we are developing is a new foundation, a new instrument that will allow one to look deep into the brain, offering a more systematical approach to any disease."

The research project is expected to take at least ten years to complete and will see at least 200 scientists working under Markram in creating the world's first digital brain. It is rumoured to have the potential of becoming the greatest step forward in understanding human biology since the mapping of the human genome.

South Africa has historically held a vanguard position inpushing the boundaries of medicineand othersciences. In 1967, cardio-surgeonChristiaan Barnard celebrated the first successful heart transplant atGroote Schuur Hospitalin Cape Town.