Max Hudak Science is preparing to place its first sensor in the human brain

Science Corporation, the startup affiliated with former Neuralink CEO and co-founder Max Hudak, has hired a top neurobiologist to lead the first U.S. human trials of a hybrid brain-computer interface.

Dr. Murat Gunel, chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery at Yale University School of Medicine, signed on as scientific advisor after two years of discussions. His goal is to surgically place the first sensor for a futuristic interface — a device that will eventually combine lab-grown neurons with electronics — in a patient’s brain.

Science, founded in 2021, has completed a $230 million Series C fundraising round. last month Which values ​​the company at $1.5 billion. Its most advanced product is Prima, a device to restore vision in people with blindness caused by macular degeneration and similar conditions. Science acquired the technology in 2024 and has advanced it through clinical trials, with plans to make it more widely available in Europe once regulatory approval is received, possibly as soon as this year.

However, Hudak co-founded the company with Greater vision Considering: Creating reliable communication links between computers and the human brain – to treat diseases and create a path towards human enhancement, such as adding entirely new senses to the body. He has dedicated his career to this proposition, from working his way into a graduate neuroscience lab as an undergraduate, to founding the first biotech computing startup, to building Neuralink alongside Elon Musk.

Neuralink and other organizations have successfully used electronic sensors to detect brain activity in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, spinal injuries, and other conditions that interrupt the brain’s connection to the body. Users with implanted devices can control computers or create words on a screen just by thinking about them. However, The road to the real market The status of these devices remains uncertain, given regulatory challenges and the relatively small number of patients with workable diagnoses.

For his part, Hudak concluded that the traditional method of affecting the brain electrically using metal sensors or electrodes is the wrong way forward. While this technology can produce remarkable results, Gunnell says these sensors cause brain damage that will likely undermine the device’s performance over time. This limitation led the science founding team toward a more organic approach.

“The idea of ​​using natural connections through neurons and creating a biological interface between electronics and the human brain is genius,” Gunnell told TechCrunch.

Alan Mardinelli, co-founder and chief scientific officer of the company, led the development of the hybrid science biosensor with a team of 30 researchers. The final device will be combined with neurons grown in the laboratory. These neurons can be stimulated with pulses of light and are designed to integrate naturally with neurons in the patient’s brain, forming a bridge between biology and electronics. In 2024, the company released Worksheet It showed that the device could be safely implanted in mice and used to stimulate brain activity.

The focus within the company is now on developing prototypes of the device and working on how to grow neurons for different therapeutic applications that meet the criteria for medical use.

Gunnell will advise the team as it prepares for clinical trials in humans and is already in discussions with medical ethics boards that oversee trials involving humans. The first step will be to test the company’s advanced sensors, without the built-in neurons, inside a live human brain.

Unlike the Neuralink device, which is inserted directly into brain tissue, the Science sensor will be implanted inside the skull but will rest on top of the brain. Perhaps because of this distinction, the company says it does not plan to seek FDA approval for these trials, arguing that the small device — which has 520 recording electrodes packed into an area the size of a pea — poses no significant risk to patients.

The team’s plan is to find patient candidates who actually need major brain surgery, such as stroke victims who need a piece of their skull removed to reduce the impact of brain swelling. In such a case, Gunnell expects to place the sensor over the cerebral cortex and evaluate its safety and effectiveness in measuring brain activity.

Gunnell believes that the device could help treat many neurological conditions if it proves successful. One early use could be to provide gentle electrical stimulation to damaged brain or spinal cord cells to encourage healing. A more complex application could involve monitoring neural activity in patients with brain tumors, providing early warnings to caregivers about impending seizures.

However, if the full potential of these devices is realized, Gunnell wonders whether they could provide more effective treatments for conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, a progressive disorder that gradually robs patients of control over their bodies. Current treatment options include: experimental Brain cell transplantation and deep brain electrical stimulation, but neither has been reliably shown to prevent the disease from progressing.

“I imagine this hybrid biosystem is combining those two — you have the electronics, you have the biological system,” he told TechCrunch. “In Parkinson’s disease, for example, we can’t stop the progression of the disease; in neurosurgery, all we do is put in an electrode to stop the tremors. Whereas if you can really put (transplanted) cells back into the brain, and protect those circuits, there’s a chance, and I think it’s a good chance, that we can stop the progression of the disease.”

But there is a lot of work to be done before then. Gunnell says it would be “optimistic” to expect trials to begin in 2027.