Neuralink, a brain chip startup created by Elon Musk, has denied claims that it and its partners tortured monkeys in laboratory experiments to cause death.
Neuralink responded to allegations by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) that Neuralink and partners at the University of California, Davis conducted inhumane tests on animals.
In a complaint filed with the US Department of Agriculture, PCRM said the study caused extreme suffering in its experimental subjects because their brains were mutilated in a random experiment and left to suffer until death.
PCRM, which opposes medical trials in animals, said Neuralink and its partners failed to provide adequate care for dying monkeys, used a substance called BioGlue that damages parts of the monkey brains, and failed to ensure the psychological needs of monkeys in experiments.
Neuralink called the description misleading and lacking context. They said some of the animals that already had health conditions unrelated to the experiment were euthanized so that researchers could practice implant surgery on corpses.
In addition, six other monkeys were euthanized due to implant-related infections or complications related to BioGlue, a widely used surgical adhesive.
In his response blog, Neuralink affirms his commitment to conducting his experiments and treating his subjects in a humane and ethical manner. They said the UC Davis lab where the experiment was conducted between 2017 and 2020 was following established federal standards.
"All animal research conducted at UC Davis is approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) as mandated by federal law and all medical and post-surgical support, including decisions at endpoints, is supervised by dedicated and skilled veterinary staff, " said Neuralink, as quoted from The Verge, Thursday (17/2/2022).
Even in 2020, Neuralink is moving its experimental subjects to its own facility to raise its standard of living. They also collaborate with the USDA and are accredited by the Association for the Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC) International.
Neuralink is currently developing brain-computer interface (BCI) implants that could be implanted in the brains of monkeys (and later humans) to help them control things with neural activity.
Last year, Neuralink showed off a video of a monkey playing a game of Pong with the help of the implant. Elon Musk hopes that this technology will eventually help paralyzed people use their cellphones until they can walk again.