# Fruit fly brain mapping and digital emulation

> Live situation record from CLSTR: https://clstr.news/situations/fruit-fly-brain-mapping-and-digital-emulation
> Updated: 2026-09-15T10:03:00.000Z. Sources: 4. Developments: 2.

Google and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute released MaleCNS v1.0, a complete map of an adult male fruit fly’s brain and central nervous system. This decade-long project resulted in a dataset containing over 166,000 neurons and approximately 125 million synaptic connections.

Following the release, developers began using the connectome data to drive simulated insect bodies through virtual environments, including games like Doom and Minecraft. Subsequently, researchers at Eon Systems successfully emulated the Drosophila melanogaster brain using a method called ‘flycoding’. This approach uses the actual biological neural structure to control a virtual body via the NeuroMechFly v2 platform, allowing the digital insect to exhibit natural behaviors such as walking toward food.

## Timeline

### 2026-09-15: Eon Systems emulates fruit fly brain in digital simulation

Eon Systems has emulated a fruit fly's complete brain in a digital simulation, using its actual biological neural wiring to control a virtual body rather than using traditional AI.

2 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/eon-systems-emulates-fruit-fly-brain-in-digital-simulation

### 2026-09-14: Google and HHMI release complete fruit fly brain map

Google and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute released a massive fruit fly brain map, which developers are now using to drive simulated insects through video games like Doom and Minecraft.

2 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/google-and-hhmi-release-complete-fruit-fly-brain-map

---
Cite as: Fruit fly brain mapping and digital emulation. CLSTR, https://clstr.news/situations/fruit-fly-brain-mapping-and-digital-emulation