The tests of Neuralink
are at the heart of a controversy. Elon Musk’s company intended to manufacture and market brain chips has been carrying out experiments on around twenty primates for several years.
While this implant project is criticized by many scientists, it now finds itself in the sights of a group for the defense of animal causes. 70% of test subjects are said to have died during Neuralink experiments.
70% of Neuralink test subjects died
The website Business Insider reports that an American animal rights group (Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine) filed a complaint against Neuralink with the Department of Agriculture on February 10, 2022. The organization claims to have obtained hundreds of pages of files on the experiments conducted by the University of California-Davis, where Neuralink was doing its primate research.
These documents describe the experiments, where there is talk of self-harm, epileptic seizures as well as a general lack of care. The association claims that Elon Musk’s company carried out tests on 23 monkeys between 2017 and 2020, and only seven of them are still alive. The surviving primates have since reportedly been moved to Neuralink’s premises when it cut ties with the university in 2020.
Autopsy records and veterinary reports would demonstrate that the brain implant tests would be carried out illegally and cause “ extreme suffering resulting from animal abuse and highly invasive experimental skull implants during the experiments “. In its press release, the association also explains that ” in some cases, Neuralink and the University of Davis chose to euthanize them before the start of the experiments, their health being too degraded “.
Neuralink fights back
Faced with the accusations, Neuralink defended itself in a press release by explaining that all the procedures carried out by the University of Davis are “ complied with applicable federal laws “. The American company recalls that ” all new medical devices must be tested on animals before being tested on humans, a rule to which Neuralink is no exception “. She also clarifies that several monkeys have arrived ” terminally ill meaning that they were about to be euthanized before being assigned to them. ” We are absolutely dedicated to working with animals in the most humane and ethical way possible. “says the press release.
Remember that in the long term, the goal of Neuralink’s brain chips is to control the brain activity of humans, for example to treat diseases such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s, or even restore the senses. Beyond the medical aspect, the company also hopes to develop a “super-cognition” which would allow, for example, to control a computer or a smartphone by thought. In 2021, Elon Musk boasted of having succeeded in having a monkey play Pong. These revelations nevertheless discredit his project and today it is hard to imagine Neuralink carrying out tests on human brains this year, especially since the implant has still not received the approval of the marketing regulator. drugs in the United States.
On the same subject :
Neuralink: Elon Musk’s start-up would have implanted a monkey to play video games by thought
Sources: Result
, Neuralink
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