Elon Musk's brain implant company, Neuralink, is under investigation by the US Department of Transportation (USDOT) due to allegations that it may have illegally transported pathogen-laced devices removed from monkeys. The allegations were raised by the Physicians Committee of Responsible Medicine (PCRM), a nonprofit organization that advocates against the use of animals in medical research.
In a letter to the USDOT, PCRM stated that Neuralink poses "a serious and ongoing public health risk" by mishandling implants removed from monkeys, and asked the department to investigate the company "for violations of the federal hazardous material transportation law and fine it accordingly." The letter alleges that the implants may have been contaminated with antibiotic-resistant staphylococcus, herpes B virus, and other pathogens, and that Neuralink employees "appear to have unsafely packaged and transported" those contaminated materials.
A USDOT spokesman said, "We take these allegations very seriously. We are conducting an investigation to ensure that Neuralink is in full compliance with federal regulations and keeping their workers and the public safe from potentially dangerous pathogens."
However, the company has yet to test the devices in humans, despite a goal of doing so by 2020 that has since been pushed to potentially sometime this year. The pressure on researchers to speed up their work, in light of missed deadlines, has reportedly put the animals they work with at risk. Now, the recent allegations suggest that rush could also put people at risk.
Neuralink ultimately stopped working with UC Davis in 2020 due to frustration with what it saw as slow-moving progress with animal tests, according to Reuters. UC Davis declined to comment on the specific allegations, but stated in an email that the university follows regulations on lab safety and biohazards.
In a letter to the USDOT, PCRM stated that Neuralink poses "a serious and ongoing public health risk" by mishandling implants removed from monkeys, and asked the department to investigate the company "for violations of the federal hazardous material transportation law and fine it accordingly." The letter alleges that the implants may have been contaminated with antibiotic-resistant staphylococcus, herpes B virus, and other pathogens, and that Neuralink employees "appear to have unsafely packaged and transported" those contaminated materials.
A USDOT spokesman said, "We take these allegations very seriously. We are conducting an investigation to ensure that Neuralink is in full compliance with federal regulations and keeping their workers and the public safe from potentially dangerous pathogens."
Previous Allegations of Animal Abuse and Rushed Experiments
This is not the first time Neuralink has faced scrutiny and investigation. Last year, PCRM alleged that Neuralink violated the Animal Welfare Act in its treatment of animals used to test its technology. In 2019, Elon Musk divulged that Neuralink had implanted its device in a monkey, which was subsequently able to control a computer with its brain. Since then, Neuralink has shown off videos of monkeys seemingly playing video games and spelling out words using the devices placed in their heads, as well as putting implants in pigs.However, the company has yet to test the devices in humans, despite a goal of doing so by 2020 that has since been pushed to potentially sometime this year. The pressure on researchers to speed up their work, in light of missed deadlines, has reportedly put the animals they work with at risk. Now, the recent allegations suggest that rush could also put people at risk.
Concerns Raised by UC Davis
This month, PCRM obtained communications between Neuralink and its former partner, the University of California, Davis, about how to handle devices removed from animals. UC Davis employees "repeatedly raised concerns" about how Neuralink took and returned explanted devices from its California National Primate Research Center in 2019, according to PCRM. In one email sent in March 2019, it was stated that, "since the hardware components of the explanted neural device are not sealed and it was not disinfected prior to leaving the Primate Center, this presents a hazard for anyone potentially coming in contact with the device."Neuralink ultimately stopped working with UC Davis in 2020 due to frustration with what it saw as slow-moving progress with animal tests, according to Reuters. UC Davis declined to comment on the specific allegations, but stated in an email that the university follows regulations on lab safety and biohazards.
