US Approves Testing of Neuralink Brain Implant in Humans
2023-06-04
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1The American technology company Neuralink has received U.S. government approval to test its brain implant device in humans.
2The approval came from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
3Neuralink says the FDA's approval will permit the company to expand its current testing program involving animals.
4Neuralink is owned by American billionaire Elon Musk. He also owns several other companies, including Tesla, SpaceX and Twitter.
5The coin-sized device is designed to be placed inside the skull.
6Small wires connect it directly to the brain.
7The implant contains a small computer that is built to communicate with the brain.
8This lets it control operations in the body.
9Neuralink has said the technology is designed to treat brain disorders and help spinal cord injury victims regain body movement.
10It might also be able to help blind people see again.
11Musk has said he believes the device could also be used to improve intelligence to help humans keep up with supercomputers and artificial intelligence (AI) technology.
12Neuralink said in a statement that the FDA approval was "an important first step" for the technology.
13"We are excited to share that we have received the FDA's approval to launch our first-in-human clinical study," Neuralink said on Twitter.
14Neuralink said it had not yet started the process of choosing human subjects to test the implants on.
15Musk spoke about the technology during a presentation last December.
16He said the company had been "working hard to be ready for our first human (implant)."
17He added that the company wanted to be "extremely careful" and make sure the implant works "well before putting a device in a human."
18During the presentation, Neuralink showed several monkeys "playing" simple video games and controlling a computer with use of the Neuralink implant.
19The company has also tested the device on pigs and sheep.
20Reuters news agency has reported on the company's animal experiments in the past.
21Some Neuralink employees told Reuters last year that the company had made mistakes in animal operations.
22They said the mistakes came because the process was hurried.
23This led to more animal deaths than necessary, the employees said.
24Neuralink tested the implant on animals in hopes of producing data that would help the company gain FDA approval for human testing, the employees told Reuters.
25In one 2021 case reported by Reuters, the company implanted 25 out of 60 pigs with the wrong-sized devices. All the pigs were later killed.
26Employees told the news agency that such mistakes could have been easily avoided with more preparation.
27Reuters said it reached out to both Neuralink and Musk for comments on its reports.
28Neither answered the requests for comments.
29The Department of Transportation is separately looking into Neuralink, Reuters reported.
30The department's investigation centers on whether the company illegally transported dangerous pathogens on devices removed from monkey brains without following effective containment measures.
31Neuralink is also under investigation by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Office of Inspector General, the news agency said.
32That investigation is looking into possible animal-welfare violations and the USDA's oversight of Neuralink.
33Several other companies are also working on devices to link the brain to computers. One of them is New York-based startup Synchron.
34It announced in July it had completed its first brain-computer implant, called an interface, in a human.
35Rajesh Rao is co-director of the Center for Neurotechnology at the University of Washington.
36After Musk's presentation last year, Rao said he does not believe Neuralink is ahead of other companies in developing brain-computer interfaces.
37But he said he does think the company is "quite ahead" in hardware development of the devices.
38I'm Bryan Lynn.
1The American technology company Neuralink has received U.S. government approval to test its brain implant device in humans. 2The approval came from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Neuralink says the FDA's approval will permit the company to expand its current testing program involving animals. 3Neuralink is owned by American billionaire Elon Musk. He also owns several other companies, including Tesla, SpaceX and Twitter. 4The coin-sized device is designed to be placed inside the skull. Small wires connect it directly to the brain. The implant contains a small computer that is built to communicate with the brain. This lets it control operations in the body. 5Neuralink has said the technology is designed to treat brain disorders and help spinal cord injury victims regain body movement. It might also be able to help blind people see again. 6Musk has said he believes the device could also be used to improve intelligence to help humans keep up with supercomputers and artificial intelligence (AI) technology. 7Neuralink said in a statement that the FDA approval was "an important first step" for the technology. "We are excited to share that we have received the FDA's approval to launch our first-in-human clinical study," Neuralink said on Twitter. 8Neuralink said it had not yet started the process of choosing human subjects to test the implants on. 9Musk spoke about the technology during a presentation last December. He said the company had been "working hard to be ready for our first human (implant)." He added that the company wanted to be "extremely careful" and make sure the implant works "well before putting a device in a human." 10During the presentation, Neuralink showed several monkeys "playing" simple video games and controlling a computer with use of the Neuralink implant. The company has also tested the device on pigs and sheep. 11Reuters news agency has reported on the company's animal experiments in the past. Some Neuralink employees told Reuters last year that the company had made mistakes in animal operations. They said the mistakes came because the process was hurried. This led to more animal deaths than necessary, the employees said. 12Neuralink tested the implant on animals in hopes of producing data that would help the company gain FDA approval for human testing, the employees told Reuters. 13In one 2021 case reported by Reuters, the company implanted 25 out of 60 pigs with the wrong-sized devices. All the pigs were later killed. Employees told the news agency that such mistakes could have been easily avoided with more preparation. 14Reuters said it reached out to both Neuralink and Musk for comments on its reports. Neither answered the requests for comments. 15The Department of Transportation is separately looking into Neuralink, Reuters reported. The department's investigation centers on whether the company illegally transported dangerous pathogens on devices removed from monkey brains without following effective containment measures. 16Neuralink is also under investigation by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Office of Inspector General, the news agency said. That investigation is looking into possible animal-welfare violations and the USDA's oversight of Neuralink. 17Several other companies are also working on devices to link the brain to computers. One of them is New York-based startup Synchron. It announced in July it had completed its first brain-computer implant, called an interface, in a human. 18Rajesh Rao is co-director of the Center for Neurotechnology at the University of Washington. After Musk's presentation last year, Rao said he does not believe Neuralink is ahead of other companies in developing brain-computer interfaces. But he said he does think the company is "quite ahead" in hardware development of the devices. 19I'm Bryan Lynn. 20Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from The Associated Press, Reuters, Agence France-Presse and Neuralink. 21_________________________________________________________________ 22Words in This Story 23implant - n. a device placed inside the body in a medical operation 24pathogen - n. a small organism, such as a virus or bacterium, that can cause disease 25oversight - n. responsibility for a job or activity that seeks to make sure it is being done correctly 26skull - n. the structure of bones that form the head and face of a person or animal 27spinal cord - n. the large group of nerves which runs through the center of the spine and carries messages between the brain and the rest of the body 28welfare - n. the state of being happy, healthy, or successful; well-being 29____________________________________________________________________ 30What do you think of this story? 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