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Nectome

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Nectome and Sparks Brain Preservation pursue brain mapping via medically assisted death

Researchers like Sebastian Seung are mapping neural wiring in simple organisms, having traced 139,255 neurons and 55 million synapses in a fly brain using electron microscopy and image-analysis software. Some scientists speculate this connectomics work could eventually enable 'whole-brain emulation,' though a 2025 PLOS One survey of 312 neuroscientists estimated this is unlikely before 2125. Two companies, Nectome and Sparks Brain Preservation, are now offering to chemically preserve human brains using techniques similar to fly-brain fixation, and say they want to work with terminally ill patients using medical aid in dying laws, now legal in 13 states and Washington, DC.