Vermont Public Television visits MBF Bioscience

A Vermont Public Television crew brought several cameras into our Williston office today to learn more about MBF Bioscience and Henry Markram, a long time customer of MBF.   Dr. Markram, director of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland, is using Neurolucida to create a complete simulation of the 89 billion neurons and 100 trillion connections in the human brain by 2023.  This endeavor is called the Human Brain Project.

A simulation of the brain would transform science.  Researchers could test theories about how the human brain functions in health and disease, develop new diagnostic tests for diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s and  find new therapies for depression.  A simulation of the brain would also inspire the design of brain-like computers and robots.

Interview with MBF staff scientist

The film crew was making their way out just after lunchtime, with all necessary shots for their segment. The footage will be included in an episode on traumatic brain injuries as part of a series on Vermont Public Television that will air in October entitled, “Emerging Science.” Though the crew came here looking solely for information about MBF’s products and the Human Brain Project, they left with a little snapshot of the human environment at MBF.  I overheard discussions about newborn babies, office dogs, and Buddhist statues — “Nice place to work, right!?” said the camerawoman to her co-worker. “It smells so good in here,” the other woman remarked. Maybe this was due to 1:00 p.m. hunger, but it was clear they left with the memorable metaphorical scent of collaboration, passion, and hard work throughout MBF that will be hard to forget. Learn more about Markram’s project on YouTube