Max Hodak’s Science Corp. is planning to implant its first sensor in the human brain

Science Corporation, founded by the former president of Neuralink and co-founder Max Hodak, hired a neuroscientist to lead the first human trials in the US for his brain and computer technology.

Dr. Murat Günel, chairman of Yale Medical School’s Department of Neurosurgery, signed on as a scientific advisor after two years of negotiations. His goal is to implant the first transplant surgery of the future — which will eventually combine lab-grown neurons with electronics — in a patient’s brain.

Science, which is slated to launch in 2021, has completed $230 million in Series C funding last month which valued the company at $1.5 billion. Its flagship drug is PRIMA, a device that restores vision in people with macular degeneration and similar conditions. Science discovered the technology in 2024 and advanced it through clinical trials, with plans to make it available in Europe once regulatory approval is obtained, possibly this year.

Hodak, however, founded the company a larger vision in mind: creating reliable communication links between computers and the human brain – for treating diseases and developing a way to improve humanity, such as adding new powers to the body. He has dedicated his career to that idea, from entering a neuroscience graduate lab as a college student, to launching the first computer technology startup, to building Neuralink alongside Elon Musk.

Neuralink and other organizations have been able to use electrical sensors to detect brain activity in ALS patients, spinal cord injuries, and other conditions that disrupt the brain’s communication with the body. Users of implanted devices are able to control computers or generate computer sounds just by thinking about them. However, a the way to the real market because these devices remain unclear, due to legal difficulties and the small number of patients with appropriate diseases.

For his part, Hodak concluded that the conventional method of replacing the brain with electricity using metals or electrodes is the wrong way forward. Although technology can have positive effects, Günel says that these studies cause damage to the brain that can affect performance in the long run. This limitation led the scientific community to adopt a natural approach.

“The idea of ​​using natural communication through neurons and creating a natural interface between electronics and the human brain is brilliant,” Günel told TechCrunch.

Alan Mardinly, co-founder and chief scientist of the company, has led the scientific development of the biohybrid sensor with a team of 30 researchers. The final device will be integrated with neurons that have a lab. Those neurons can be attracted to light and are designed to interact naturally with neurons in the patient’s brain, creating a bridge between biology and electronics. In 2024, the company was released working paper which showed that the device could be successfully implanted in mice and used to stimulate the brain.

Within the company, the goal is now to develop prototypes of the device and evaluate how it can grow neuron cells for various therapeutic treatments that meet standards for clinical use.

Günel will advise the team as it prepares for human clinical trials and is already in discussions with medical organizations that oversee human trials. The first step will be to test the company’s advanced sensor, with no neurons attached, inside a living human brain.

Unlike the Neuralink device, which is implanted directly into the brain tissue, Science’s sensor will be placed inside the skull but rests on top of the brain. Perhaps because of this difference, the company says it is not planning to apply for FDA approval for these tests, arguing that the small device – which has 520 recording electrodes packed into an area the size of a pea – does not pose a significant risk to patients.

The team’s goal is to find patients who already need major brain surgery, such as stroke victims who need a piece of their cranium removed to reduce brain swelling. In that case, Günel hopes to place a sensor on top of their cortex and evaluate its safety and effectiveness by measuring brain activity.

Günel believes that this device can help to deal with many bruises if it is done well. An early use may be to deliver electrical energy to damaged brain or spinal cord cells to promote healing. More complex applications may include monitoring neurological activity in patients with brain tumors, and providing immediate warnings to caregivers of impending seizures.

However, if the full potential of these devices is realized, Günel wonders if they could provide a more effective treatment for diseases such as Parkinson’s disease, a slowly developing disease that robs patients of control over their bodies. Modern methods of support include experiments brain cells and deep brain stimulation with electricity, but neither has been proven to stop the disease from progressing.

“I think this biohybrid system combines the two — you have electronics, and you have nature,” he told TechCrunch. For example, in Parkinson’s disease, we cannot stop the progression of the disease; in neurosurgery, all we are doing is placing an electrode to stop the tremors.

However, there is much work to be done before that time. Günel says “it would be good” to wait for the tests to start in 2027.