The technology apparently creates a connection between the human brain and a computer.
QUICK FACTS:
- Elon Musk’s brain chip company Neuralink has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to begin human clinical trials, despite the company acknowledging monkey deaths during testing.
- The brain chip is a system of small electrode threads that implant into the brain and aims to help[ patients suffering from paralysis, spinal cord injuries, and brain disorders.
- Recruitment is not yet open for the trial, but anyone interested in participating in the trial can enter their information on Neuralink’s patient registry.
- Those who are eligible for participation in the clinical study may include “anyone within the United States who is at least 18 years old and the age of majority in their state, who is able to consent, and who has quadriplegia, paraplegia, vision loss, hearing loss, and/or the inability to speak, is invited to participate in the Patient Registry.”
- “If you participate in the Patient Registry and we determine that you meet preliminary eligibility for future clinical trials, we may contact you to inform you of these trials once they become available,” Neuralink’s statement added.
- The animal-rights group Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine has viewed over 700 pages of documents, veterinary records, and necropsy reports through a public records request at the University of California, and has reported that out of a total of 23 monkeys implanted with Neuralink brain chips between 2017 and 2020, at least 15 reportedly died.
FDA PREVIOUSLY REJECTED NEUROLINK:
- Reuters reported that the FDA had previously rejected Neurlink’s request for a human trial, citing “growing employee concern that the company is rushing experiments, causing additional suffering and deaths of pigs, sheep, and monkeys.”
- The FDA detailed safety issues with the company, including the use of lithium batteries, migration of the wires, and potential damage to brain tissue.
- Few other details are known about the 2022 request and subsequent rejection.
- The matter also involved congressmen Earl Francis Blumenauer (D-OR) and Adam Schiff (D-CA) signing a draft letter to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) inquiring about how Neurolink conducted their experiments.
- “At the time of this letter, serious allegations have been leveled against Elon Musk’s company Neuralink,” the letter states, adding that “These complaints include graphic descriptions of botched experiments and unnecessary animal suffering and death, reportedly as a result of pressure from Mr. Musk to irresponsibly accelerate development of the company’s products at the expense of animal safety.”
BACKGROUND:
- Scientists have suggested that lab-grown “minibrains” may be used as “biological hardware” to develop biocomputers.
- The proposal, published in the journal Frontiers of Science, discussed plans to transform human brain cells into biological hardware, a process called “organoid intelligence.”
- According to the co-author of the study, organoids can “mimic the cortical development of neural oscillatory behavior or a preterm baby to a postnatal stage,” meaning the brainwaves between a baby and organoid are similar.
