Neuralink, a medical device company headed by Elon Musk is under federal investigation after complaints that animal testing is being rushed, causing needless suffering and deaths. The company is facing a probe for potential animal-welfare violations, Reuters reported.
Musk had, on Sunday, said that he is comfortable implanting the Neuralink brain chip in himself. The company is developing a brain implant that could probably help paralysed people walk again and cure other neurological ailments.
"We've submitted I think most of our paperwork to the FDA (US Food and Drug Administration) and we think probably in about six months we should be able to have our first Neuralink in a human," AFP quoted Musk as saying.
Reportedly, there has been resistance among Neuralink employees who claim the billionaire has been putting pressure on them to accelerate the development of the brain chip. About 1,500 animals have been killed due to experiments since 2018, according to reports accessed by Reuters. Many companies that conduct experiments to advance human healthcare routinely use animals in experiments-- they also usually face financial pressure to bring the products to the market quickly. Killing lab animals post-experiments is routine so that, they can be examined post-mortem for research purposes.
