Author: Liu Fang
Editor: Huang Shan
In April 2021, Musk released a video of a monkey playing a game of table tennis with his mind, which earned enough eyeballs for his brain-computer interface company Neuralink. Recently, however, the experiences of these monkeys, who were used to experiment with brain-computer interfaces, sparked a big discussion in foreign media.
On February 10, US time, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), a nonprofit organization with 17,000 members, formally filed an administrative lawsuit with the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Bureau (USDA/APHIS/Animal Care), saying that Neuralink and UC Davis were in the "" The Development of a Large-Scale Brain-Machine Interface in Rhesus Macaques project violated the U.S. Animal Welfare Act, resulting in the death of 15 of the 23 experimental rhesus monkeys after being tortured.
Figure | Administrative Litigation Documents Home (Source: PCRM)
The 716-page legal document contains a commercial contract between Neuralink and UC Davis, a breakdown of the costs, and veterinary and autopsy reports for all the monkeys.
From 2017 to 2020, Neuralink provided about $1.4 million to the California National Primate Research Center (CNPRC) on the Davis campus to secure a "approximately 25-cent coin-sized" implant to the skull of a macaque. Upon further investigation, CNPRC is a national research institution funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Figure | Introduction to CNPRC (Source: NIH website)
For Neuralink, this is an investment with a clear return.
In the June 2017-June 2018 agreement, Neuralink provided $796,000 to CNPRC in three installments. In exchange, Neuralink will have access to CNPRC's technicians (appearance fees are charged at standard) and can bring its own employees and contractors to CNPRC to use its equipment.
Figure | Fees neuralink paid to CNPRC in 2017-2018 (source: contracts entered into by both parties)
As a national research institution, CNPRC should have a sound experimental process and standards. But records obtained by PCRM show that rhesus monkeys who participated in the experiment were imprisoned, abused, and treated as non-"monkeys." Most of them have suffered a systemic infection due to craniotomy and suffer extreme pain. In response, Neuralink admitted to euthanizing eight experimental monkeys, but the main reasons were clashes between peers, implant and device failure, medical device risks, and complications from BioGlue biogel. Neuralink also stressed that he is "absolutely committed to experimenting with animals in the most humane and ethical way possible."
A Davis spokesperson noted that the university's partnership with Neuralink ended in 2020. He added that Davis' Commission for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals "thoroughly reviewed and approved" the research proposal for the Neuralink collaboration.
Neuralink experiments with monkeys on the path to death
Records show that the Rhesus monkey, named "Animal 6," aged 6, underwent a highly invasive craniotomy on October 10, 2018, with a hole drilled into its skull.
The robot then implanted electrodes in its brain and "fixed the implant to the monkey's skull with titanium screws." After 2 months, the monkey developed a serious infection at the implant site of the head, and laboratory staff had to frequently clean the implanted electrodes, including irrigation with "plenty" of antibiotics. Where the electrodes are "sharp at the edges," the monkey's brain is being corroded. Sometimes, workers observed a "lot of secretion" in the infected area around the electrodes. On January 14, 2019, the electrodes were "exposed through the edges of the skin" and were bloody, in part because the monkey was trying to "pluck" the foreign body out of his head. Two days later, staff euthanized Animal 6.
Figure | Rhesus Monkey (Source: PCRM)
The Rhesus monkey named "Animal 11" died at the age of 11. On December 3, 2018, researchers performed craniotomy on it and placed implanted electrodes into the brain. In fact, as early as October, staff at the University of California, Davis, found that the monkey was likely to have "a few fingers missing both hands and right foot" because of self-harm.
However, this did not prevent the experiment from proceeding. On December 18, 2018, after observing "skin erosion" around the electrodes, the staff decided to "start [antibiotic treatment] prophylactically or conservatively" on the monkey. For the next few months, the rhesus monkey had a bloody, infected wound on its head. On March 15, 2019, the rhesus monkey was subjected to a "termination procedure" with a mutilated body and a "bloody head..."
The Rhesus monkey named "Animal 21" died at the age of 7. On September 10, 2018, it underwent an "electrode insertion survivability" procedure, also a robotic procedure. Over the next two days, the monkey was observed vomiting, wheezing repeatedly, and "very little interaction with the environment/observer." On September 13, animal care workers observed the animal pale, yellow discharge from the implants, and vomit in the cage. The record reads that the monkey "appeared to have fainted from exhaustion." ”
After being euthanized, pathologists performed an autopsy on "Animal 21" and found cerebral hemorrhage and "acute esophageal ulcers..." due to repeated vomiting. The most important is the "Bioglue biogel used in the experiment that covers and compresses a large area of the left side of the brain", resulting in "acute neuron necrosis".
Figure | Autopsy report of a monkey with THE words DEAD (Source: PCRM)
Bioglue, a commercial pharmaceutical product manufactured by CryoLife, was introduced in 1998 and was approved by the FDA in 2001. For the past 15 years, BioGlue has been known as the number one adhesive used in cardiovascular surgery worldwide. But PCRM questioned the use of Bioglue. They argue that this glue was not approved in the original protocol and is therefore a serious departure from the experimental procedure. On August 19, 2019, the chief surgeon who was performing craniotomy on Animal 8 "was concerned about a gap between the two electrodes and filled it with BioGlue." "Later autopsies revealed that the monkey had a large amount of BioGlue biogel on the surface of its brain.
The experiences of "Animal 6", "Animal 8", "Animal 11" and "Animal 21" are not unique.
PCRM details the deaths of 8 Rhesus monkeys in its report. Given this solid evidence, PCRM found that Neuralink and UC Davis violated nine provisions of the Animal Welfare Act (AWA), including failing to proactively reduce animal suffering, not receiving veterinary guidance on the use of anesthetics, failing to observe animals on a daily basis, and having veterinarians.
Let the bullets fly for a while
How did PCRM get so many experimental records?
In 2021, Musk attracted a lot of attention after releasing a video of monkeys playing table tennis games, including the animal protection organization PCRM. Last May, PCRM filed a lawsuit against Davis in California Superior Court, alleging that the university violated The California Public Records Act (CPRA) by refusing to provide animal care records related to the Neuralink study. As a result, the University of California, Davis, had to provide nearly 700 pages of exhaustive records.
Figure | California Public Records Act (Source: California Attorney General's Office)
But the story isn't over yet. PCRM claims that Davis should also have videos, photos and identification numbers of monkeys. So on Feb. 10, PCRM filed a second public records lawsuit with the Yolo County Superior Court, demanding that the university release videos and photos of rhesus monkeys from the experiments. Under the California Public Records Act, citizens have the right to apply for access to and disclosure of "any information relating to public business prepared, owned, used, or retained by a state government or local agency, regardless of its form or characteristics." ”
In fact, as early as March 2002, neuroscientists from Brown University were able to successfully get monkeys to move their cursors across computer screens. Like Neuralink's experiment, they used implanted electrodes to decode the activity of dozens of neurons in the monkey's motor cortex, but nearly 20 years before Neuralink.
Figure | Monkey Moving Cursor Paper (Source: NLM)
If this monkey abuse storm has caused a big discussion on animal experiments and animal rights, then the premise and basis of the discussion should be scientific experiments directly related to human health.
But in many cases today, the lines between commercial interests and scientific progress have been blurred. As a national experimental institution, CNPRC is not concerned with the question of "whether rhesus monkeys should be used", but how to comply with industry norms and federal laws and be as perfect as possible in the professional field.
Neuralink has responded to this incident on its official blog, and in the article, Neuralink said at the beginning: "These allegations come from people who oppose the use of any animal in research." Currently, all new medical devices and treatments must be tested on animals before they can be ethically tested in humans. Neuralink is not unique in this regard. At Neuralink, we are absolutely committed to working with animals in the most humane and ethical way possible. ”
"We also look forward to the day when animals are no longer needed for medical research," Neuralink said.
But until then, there's a lot more we can do.
bibliography:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/kbwap1dj4e51mfe/2022-02-10%20PCRM%20USDA%20Complaint%20Re%20UC%20Davis%20and%20Neuralink%20%28with%20exhibits%29.pdf?dl=0
https://orip.nih.gov/resource-directory/california-national-primate-research-center
https://neuralink.com/blog/animal-welfare/
https://www.cryolife.com/products/bioglue-surgical-adhesive/
https://www.oag.ca.gov/sites/all/files/agweb/pdfs/publications/summary_public_records_act.pdf
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11894084/#affiliation-1
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