We are inching closer to brain implants becoming a reality as Neuralink gets the green light for human trials from the Food and Drug Administration. Before they can start, they'll need actual humans to test it on, and the company is already looking for volunteers for the study.
They Don't Just Recruit Anyone
Before you rush to the site to find out how to sign up for the trial, the brain-computer interface company is not just recruiting random people. In line with the purpose of the technology, Neuralink is looking for people who have lost motor abilities due to medical conditions.
The implant, if successful, grants people the ability to "control a computer cursor or keyboard using their thoughts alone." With that said, the trial is open to individuals who suffer from quadriplegia or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
These conditions usually affect the person's spinal cord or nerve cells of the brain. With the Precise Robotically Implanted Brain-Computer Interface (PRIME), the volunteer's brain activity will control a computer using just their thoughts, according to Gizmodo.
The way it works is that the participant will have the N1 device implanted in the part of the brain that controls movement intention, which will allow them to control computer devices like the cursor or keyboard through their brain activity.
The company already has a machine called the R1 Robot that implants the device in the recruit's head. After that, the chip will be powered by a lithium battery, which has drawn safety concerns for the subject of the trials.
How Dangerous is It?
The FDA has already approved the trials after several declined requests previously. Some believe that the agency overlooked a couple of safety concerns, especially with accusations of animal cruelty emerging against the tech company.
Like most procedures done on humans, experts test it out on animals first to see how well it does. A whistleblower from the company claims that Neuralink's tests and experiments went horribly wrong with the test subjects, as reported by Vox.
The brain chip company has been testing its device since 2018 and since then, it has allegedly killed around 1,500 animals including 280 sheep, pigs, and monkeys. The employee even said that the chips were sometimes implanted in the wrong place and the subject would be euthanized.
Neuralink admitted that there have been cases with monkeys where they died due to the tests, but clarified that there was no animal cruelty involved. The company also stated that the accusations come from people who "oppose any use of animals in research."
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PRCM) Director of Research Advocacy, Ryan Merkley says that surgeons used an unapproved adhesive to fill open spaces in an animal's skull, which led to the animal's suffering due to brain hemorrhaging.
The company was accused of doing "hack jobs," which may have been a result of Elon Musk rushing his employees regarding animal testing so they could move on to human trials. Reports say that 86 pigs and two monkeys suffered from it due to staff mistakes.
