Science Corporation, a startup launched by former Neuralink president and co-founder Max Hodak, has recruited a leading neurobiologist to spearhead the inaugural U.S. human trials for its biohybrid brain-computer interface. Dr. Murat Günel, chair of the Department of Neurosurgery at Yale Medical School, has joined as a scientific advisor following two years of talks. His objective is to surgically implant the first sensor for a future interface—one that will ultimately merge lab-grown neurons with electronics—into a patient's brain.

Founded in 2021, Science recently closed a $230 million Series C funding round, valuing the company at $1.5 billion. Its most progressed product is PRIMA, a device designed to restore vision in individuals blinded by macular degeneration and related conditions. The company acquired this technology in 2024, has moved it through clinical trials, and aims to broaden its availability in Europe pending regulatory approval, potentially within the year.

Hodak co-founded the company with a grander ambition: establishing dependable communication channels between computers and the human brain. This aims not only to treat diseases but also to pave the way for human enhancement, such as endowing the body with entirely new senses. He has committed his career to this vision, from persuading his way into a graduate neuroscience lab as an undergraduate, to founding his first biotech computing startup, to co-creating Neuralink with Elon Musk.

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Neuralink and similar entities have successfully employed electronic sensors to detect brain activity in patients with ALS, spinal injuries, and other conditions that disrupt communication between the brain and body. Users with implanted devices can operate computers or produce words on a screen through thought alone. Yet, the route to a viable market for these devices remains unclear, hampered by regulatory hurdles and the limited pool of patients with qualifying diagnoses.

Hodak ultimately determined that the traditional approach of using metal probes or electrodes to influence the brain with electricity is flawed. Dr. Günel notes that while such technology can yield impressive outcomes, these probes cause brain damage that likely degrades device performance over time. This limitation steered Science's founding team toward a more organic strategy.

Alan Mardinly, a co-founder and the company's chief science officer, has directed the development of Science's biohybrid sensor with a team of 30 researchers. The final device will incorporate lab-grown neurons. These neurons can be activated by light pulses and are engineered to integrate naturally with a patient's own brain neurons, creating a bridge between biological tissue and electronics. In 2024, the company published a working paper demonstrating the device could be safely implanted in mice and used to stimulate brain activity.

Internally, the current focus is on developing device prototypes and determining how to cultivate neuron cells for various therapeutic applications that meet medical standards. Dr. Günel will advise the team as it prepares for human clinical trials and is already in discussions with medical ethics boards overseeing human subject research.

The initial step involves testing the company's advanced sensor—without the embedded neurons—inside a living human brain. Unlike a Neuralink device, which penetrates brain tissue, Science's sensor will be implanted within the skull but rest atop the brain. Partly due to this distinction, the company states it does not plan to seek FDA approval for these trials, contending the tiny device—packing 520 recording electrodes into an area the size of a pea—poses no substantial risk to patients.

The team intends to identify candidate patients who already require major brain surgery, such as stroke victims needing a portion of their skull removed to alleviate brain swelling. In such scenarios, Dr. Günel anticipates placing the sensor on the cortex to assess its safety and effectiveness in measuring brain activity.

Dr. Günel believes a successful device could help address numerous neurological conditions. An early application might involve delivering mild electrical stimulation to damaged brain or spinal cord cells to promote healing. A more complex use could entail monitoring neurological activity in brain tumor patients and alerting caregivers to impending seizures.

If these devices achieve their full potential, Dr. Günel speculates they might offer more effective treatments for conditions like Parkinson's disease, a progressive disorder that slowly strips patients of bodily control. Current treatments include experimental brain cell transplants and deep brain electrical stimulation, but neither has proven reliably capable of halting disease progression.

"In Parkinson's, for example, we cannot stop the progression of the disease; in neurosurgery, all we are doing is putting an electrode to stop the tremors," Dr. Günel explained. "Whereas if you can really put the [transplanted] cells back in the brain, protect those circuits, there’s a chance, and I believe it’s a good chance, that we can stop progression of the disease."

Substantial work remains before reaching that point. Dr. Günel remarks that expecting trials to commence in 2027 would be "optimistic."