Looking back at 2015 (3/3)

04. The Human Brain Project provided a first proof of concept with a numerical reconstruction of a portion of a rat neocortex, the public came in droves to EPFL's new science festival, and researchers launched a social network platform to monitor public sentiment during the global climate conference. DNA sequencing improved by slowing down EPFL scientists have developed a method that improves the accuracy of DNA sequencing up to a thousand times. The method, which uses nanopores to read individual nucleotides, paves the way for better - and cheaper - DNA sequencing. A major proof of concept for brain simulation Human Brain Project scientists have completed a first draft computer reconstruction of a piece of the neocortex. The electrical behavior of the virtual brain tissue was simulated on supercomputers and found to match the behavior observed in a number of experiments on the brain. Further simulations revealed novel insights into the functioning of the neocortex.