The following article is from The New Zhiyuan
Introduction: Neuralink, the star enterprise of Academician Musk, has brought public topics again, but this time it is not positive: according to the recorded materials, some animal protection organizations complained to the government department that Neuralink and its partners "did not properly take care of experimental monkeys" and "caused extreme trauma" and were executed. In the vernacular, Neuralink's experimenters abused the monkeys and killed them.
Academician Musk, who has the strongest scientific and technological strength in the rich world, the largest industry in the scientific research industry, and the most Internet celebrity in the real industry, seems to have encountered frequent difficulties recently.
40 star-chain satellites fell in a geomagnetic storm, and tens of millions of dollars instantly turned into a meteor shower.
Peers have let the 62-year-old grandfather tweet with "ideas", but he has not been approved by the FDA for a long time.
The front foot recruiter wants to advance the human experiment, and the back foot passively accuses monkey abuse
Experimental monkeys were tortured and killed, can human experiments be good?
On February 10, 2022, Beijing time, the U.S. animal protection organization Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) announced that it would file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which is responsible for regulating experimental animals, claiming that the materials in its hands prove that Musk's Neuralink company and the University of California, Davis, improperly tested animals, and in fact abused and killed experimental monkeys.
According to PCRM, Neuralink's experimental monkeys experienced "extreme pain" and were killed due to the combination of "inadequate animal care and highly traumatic experiments" from the experimental party.
However, according to Insider's interview, the PCRM spokesperson was extremely skeptical about the safety of Neuralink's human experiments: "The previous two years of monkey experiments have been recorded like this, and it is difficult to believe that Neuralink is now close to being able to safely experiment on volunteer bodies."
"The document shows that the monkeys in the experiments mutilated their brains after the rough experiments were thrown aside and waited to die. No wonder Musk hid videos and photo recordings of such horrific abuses."
65% of the experimental monkeys were mistreated and executed
Because UC Davis is a research institution that receives federal grants, PCRM obtained a total of 700 pages of materials from UC Davis, including veterinary reports and autopsy reports, under the bill requiring relevant government agencies to publish archival records. The materials are all about 23 monkeys that Neuralink experimented with and deposited at The University of Davis in 2017-2020.
From the materials, PCRM accused Neuralink and DAV of violating 9 of the U.S. Animal Welfare Act, including the need for researchers to minimize the mental and physical suffering of laboratory animals, the daily care and observation of laboratory animals, and the presence of a professional veterinarian to advise the use of anesthetics on animals.
PCRM said at least 15 of the 23 experimental monkeys died or were executed as a result of the experiment. The researchers did not provide sufficient veterinary care to the experimental monkeys after using monkey steel nails to penetrate the skulls and destroying some of the monkeys' brains with foreign bodies.
PCRM also called Neuralink's 2021 video of monkeys playing games suspicious: "Records show that almost all monkeys with intracranial implants experienced severe health-damaging sequelae: the implants caused repetitive infections; several monkeys convulsed; several monkeys died within a few days... The monkey in the released video looks very healthy."
One of the monkeys was allegedly missing some fingers and toes, possibly due to "self-harm or other unidentified trauma" induced by the pain of the experiment. The broken-fingered monkey was later executed in the "end process".
Another monkey, who underwent experiments with craniotomy and electrode insertion into the brain, suffered a hemorrhagic skin infection due to improper care and was eventually euthanized.
Another female macaque monkey had severe vomiting, gagging, and wheezing after undergoing an electrode insertion experiment in the brain. A few days later, transcripts stated that the macaque "fell to the ground due to exhaustion/exhaustion" and that the monkey was subsequently executed. Autopsies showed that the monkeys were induced to suffer a significant cerebral hemorrhage.
In addition, after the experimental monkeys were implanted with two electrodes in the brain, the researchers filled the brain space between the two electrodes with biological glue that was not approved by the Drug Regulatory Department.
The complainants said the experimental party still had a strong expectation not disclosed
PCRM said transcripts showed researchers had long-term video surveillance of female macaques with cerebral hemorrhage, but the data obtained did not include this effect. A PCRM spokesperson said, "It's conceivable that these images will be extremely disturbing, but they need to be made public so that the public knows what's going on in Musk's lab."
In May 2021, PCRM filed a lawsuit in california court for not providing information in a timely manner at the University of Davis.
Now, despite the information obtained, PCRM still claims that Davis has withheld photos, videos, material labels and other information related to the experiment, and also said that Davis said that the information is the private property of the private company Neuralink, and PCRM will file a supplementary appeal in the California court against the previous lawsuit.
PCRM said that since the use of government funds to fund the site facilities and equipment resources, the experimental information lacks the nature of private property. A spokesman for the University of Davis denied concealment of the allegations, saying the university had fully complied with the relevant public information disclosure laws.
For this PR incident, Neuralink has not heard back so far.
A spokesperson for the University of Davis said it did its best to provide the best possible care for laboratory animals, and the partnership with Neuralink ended in late 2020 after "exhaustive review and validation", strict supervision of animal experimental research, and full compliance with all applicable laws and USDA regulations.
In 2019, Musk said Neuralink was expected to begin human experiments in 2020. In February 2021, Musk said Neuralink would begin human experiments by the end of 2021. In December 2021, Musk said Neuralink hopes to begin human experiments within 2022.
Some netizens commented cheaply: "Don't be afraid, the experiment is completely safe." Nothing will happen, just like Tesla driverless..."
Some netizens also supported Musk: "What do you think animal experiments should be carried out?"
However, some people immediately retorted: "It's not that animal testing is bad, it's saying that Neuralink abuses and overuses experimental animals, and experimental animals must also be well cared for." "Don't muddy the waters, there are a lot of animal experiments in the industry that are ethical and not abusive."
Musk and his Neuralink
In June 2016, when Neuralink was founded, Musk explored a science fiction concept: Neural lace (neural web) – a seamless, stable whole-brain interface that can communicate directly with the brain.
The historically uninhibited Musk claims that Neuralink devices can one day achieve "ARTIFICIAL symbiosis" (AI symbiosis), and the human brain will be integrated with artificial intelligence.
In July 2019, Neuralink announced that the company has developed a brain-computer interface system.
The team's paper, published in the journal Medical Internet Research, demonstrates a technique called thread.
These "threads" are thinner than a human hair (4-6 microns wide) and are a series of tiny electrodes and sensors that can be used to transmit information when implanted in the brain.
Responsible for implanting these "threads" deep in the brain is a robot like a "sewing machine" that automatically avoids blood vessels.
The system consists of three parts: an extremely delicate polymer probe (inserted into the brain), a neurosurgical robot dedicated to interpolation, and external chips and companion solutions (Neuralink calls customized high-density electronics).
Among them, the chip will be hung on the human ear in the form of a wearable device and connected to some implanted skull sensors, which will be connected to the cerebral cortex through many very thin and densely arranged "lines".
In August 2020, Musk once again announced Neuralink's blockbuster breakthrough.
This time Musk built a magical device the size of a coin, surgically implanted in a skull, and fully charged for a full day.
During the operation, a skull the size of a coin is removed and glued with "super glue". Then you can walk around after the surgery.
The implantation method is also very simple, and you can be discharged from the hospital on the same day.
Musk showed off the healthy piglets that had been implanted in the Neuralink device for two months.
When the staff touched its nose, the pig's nerves began to excite. Under the action of the 1024 electrodes connected to the device, the radio wave signal in its brain is clearly visible.
In April 2021, Musk announced Neuralink's important achievement through video - let monkeys play table tennis games with their minds.
In the experiment, a 9-year-old Rhesus monkey, Payer, had two N1 Links implanted in his head, and the staff lured it with a banana milkshake to play the game.
The metal straw under the screen is connected to the milkshake, which can only be sucked while staring at the screen, which allows Parger to focus on the screen and "work" while eating.
At the same time, the staff is also recording the firing of Parger neurons, predicting the movement of the hand by recording which neurons are firing.
After becoming proficient, the staff withdrew the joystick, and Pager only had to imagine in his brain how the joystick should move - playing a game of ping-pong "all by thought".
In January 2022, Musk announced a hiring announcement that a director of clinical trials was needed to oversee the company's long-promised human trials of its medical devices.
The hiring sends a big signal that human testing of Neuralink chips is about to begin.
However, even if Musk himself is optimistic, the FDA does not agree at this time.
By contrast, his peer, Synchron, has not only received FDA approval, but has also made Phillip O'Keefe, a 62-year-old alzheimer's patient, the first person in human history to send a tweet directly by thought alone.
In other words, neuromedical-related high-tech enterprises abuse experimental monkeys... This is the plot of the "Rise of the Apes" series of movies, can we expect the monkeys to revolt to overthrow Musk next?
Resources:
https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-neuralink-experiments-monkeys-extreme-suffering-animal-rights-group-2022-2
https://nypost.com/2022/02/10/elon-musks-neuralink-allegedly-subjected-monkeys-to-extreme-suffering/
https://observer.com/2022/02/doctors-group-complaint-neuralink-ucdavis-animal-abuse-brain-chip-study/
Title image source: homemade