Elon Musk and Neuralink are accused of killing 12 monkeys just as human trials were about to begin.

Elon Musk has again found himself in the spotlight of bioethics experts due to his company’s treatment of animals in Neuralink brain interface device testing. Already in December 2022, it was announced that an investigation was underway into the deaths of more than 1,500 animals. Now a group of American doctors has condemned US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) the death of twelve initially healthy monkeys.

This is a particularly serious charge for two reasons. On the one hand, because on September 10, Musk announced on his X account that not a single monkey died during the experiments. And also, just in case, they chose terminal primates. This would involve deception on the part of the company’s CEO, who arrives just as the company has received the green light to begin the project. Neuralink human clinical trials.

At this time, this complaint is merely a letter from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. However, if the SEC decides to look into what happened, it will be the second investigation into animal cruelty, which would come at a worse time for Neuralink.

A History of Animal Cruelty from Neuralink

Neuralink is brain-computer device with which Elon Musk wants us to be able to mentally connect to the Internet. It will have many futuristic applications almost taken from Black mirror. But it could also be very useful in healthcare to help patients with cerebral palsy communicate and move normally. much more fluid.

Because this device is implanted in the brain, it is important to clearly understand its proper functioning and safety before using it on humans. That’s why since the company was founded in 2016, Musk’s team has been collecting animals of different species for its research.

Conducting such clinical trials is normal in science. However, it is necessary to comply with some ethical criteria It is very important, which includes initial studies on cultured cells, to begin animal experiments with minimal safeguards. One should also strive to minimize suffering by avoiding sacrifices as much as possible and ensuring that they are made in the least painful way possible.

An estimated 1,500 animals have died in Neuralink laboratories since 2018. This includes monkeys, pigs, sheep and other species. Death itself does not mean that the test animals were mistreated. At least not as American laws dictate. However, dissatisfied employees themselves repeatedly began to complain about the implementation bad habits who pushed avoidable sacrifices.

Everything has already been said: from implants installed in the wrong vertebra to poor choice of device size. All this caused damage to the animals, which forced them to be sacrificed. Employees say it’s all about onslaught by Musk and other Neuralink executives complete trials as soon as possible before using it in humans.

The truth is that this is not the only group of scientists studying this type of interface. There are other researchers, public or private, who are working on the same clues. Therefore, those who take the largest piece of cake will finish first. And this, if not worked with a cool head, is a fact that can force some businessmen to work as quickly as possible. leaving ethics aside.

12 Dead Monkeys and Hoaxes on the Internet

This week, Neuralink received the desired approval to begin clinical trials in people with cerebral palsy. This was made possible after the expected successful completion experiments with monkeys.

However, the authors of the just-released letter warn that the statement contains several lies.

It is enough to refer to the experimental records University of California, Daviswhere they were carried out, several inconsistencies can be seen. First, let’s talk about sacrifice at least 15 monkeys. Of these, three were indeed deadly animals that would also die in a very short time. The remaining 12 were initially healthy. But they had to be sacrificed due to symptoms such as chronic infections, swelling of the brain, or loss of balance and coordination.

Rhesus macaques are used as primates, as is often the case in science. This is the species that has hope for half-life 25 years. In some cases, they can even reach 40. However, those sacrificed in these clinical trials were on average 7.5 years old. Therefore, these were not already dying animals.

Following complaints that Neuralink has already received in 2022, it is clear that this new notice may cause blisters. Now we will have to wait for the SEC’s decision. If the entire process has to be stopped until it can be verified that the actions were done without violating the Animal Welfare Act, another company could overtake Musk on the right. And haste is a bad advisor. Especially when the lives of thousands of living beings are in your hands. Nothing, not even all the gold in the world, should be higher than this.