Elon Musk has been at the forefront of global news for some time now. Between his divisive takeover of Twitter and a drastic drop in Tesla stock, Elon has had a less-than-stellar 2022.
To make matters worse for the SpaceX entrepreneur, his medical device company, Neuralink, is facing accusations of animal abuse. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Inspector General is launching an investigation regarding violations of the Animal Welfare Act.
Neuralink has been working towards developing a brain implant for humans. With technology as advanced as this, the scientific company agrees that researchers must take their time to minimize harm to test subjects.
This is where the 51-year-old seems to diverge from the rest of his colleagues, instead, placing an emphasis on fast-tracking this project. He even recently surprisingly announced that human trials were set to begin within six months. However, Neuralink’s schedule may change due to the animal rights investigation.
Whether it’s amoral or not, animal testing has been standard practice in the field of medicine for a long time and will likely continue. While animals routinely die during these experiments, there are regulations in place that attempt to minimize these casualties.
However, Musk’s expectation of accelerated development has led to an overabundance of botched experiments. In February, reports of over a dozen primates were killed in experiments and this is likely just the beginning.
According to Reuters, Neuralink has killed around 1500 animals since 2018. These animals include rodents, pigs, primates, sheep, and possibly more. Several employees have voiced their concerns over the multi-billionaire’s disregard for policy. Some have even proposed large-scale changes to Neuralink’s testing process.
The leading cause of these botched procedures allegedly comes down to human error. Due to rushed operations, the proper preparations and planning were not fully fleshed out. This resulted in animals receiving implants unsuitably sized and sometimes even incorrect body parts.
With the investigation still underway, this hiccup in Musk’s schedule will likely force him to bump back human trials. Considering the turmoil surrounding Neuralink at the moment, this may be for the best.
Do you think the new CEO of Twitter has gone too far? Or are you ready to preorder Neuralink’s brain implant? Let us know in the comments and finally, check out Doja Cat’s interaction with the new king of Twitter here.
[Via]