His pressure on Neuralink’s staff to make progress contributed to mistakes plaguing some experiments, Reuters reported. The company has missed deadlines set by Musk to proceed to human trials, however. A federal prosecutor in the Northern District of California referred PCRM's complaint to the USDA Inspector General, which later launched the federal probe into Neuralink, Reuters previously reported.ĭuring its partnership with UC Davis, Neuralink grew frustrated with what it regarded as the slow pace of testing on primates, current and former company employees told Reuters, and has since built out extensive in-house animal testing facilities. Last year, it wrote to federal officials about alleged animal-welfare issues during Neuralink’s research partnership with UC Davis, citing another set of records it obtained. PCRM has raised concerns about Neuralink in the past. "This is an exposure to anyone coming in contact with the contaminated explanted hardware and we are making a big deal about this because we are concerned for human safety," wrote the employee, whose name was redacted from the records. On one occasion in April 2019, a UC Davis employee wrote in an email that the university’s primate center is “at risk” for “monkey contaminated hardware.” PCRM said it also found instances that appear to describe UC Davis employees urging immediate biohazard training for Neuralink employees following incidents that had caused contamination concerns. "The company's documented track record of sloppy, unsafe laboratory practices compel DOT to investigate and levy appropriate fines," PCRM said in the letter. PCRM, which opposes the use of animals in medical research, did not identify any harm as a result of these incidents, but said Neuralink's actions "may pose a serious and ongoing public health risk." The group said those pathogens could cause serious health issues in infected humans, such as bloodstream infections, pneumonia and severe brain damage, among other problems. PCRM's letter said pathogens were carried on removed implants from monkeys after improper sanitization and packaging. Neuralink messages and records not shared with UC Davis are not subject to such information requests.Ī UC Davis spokesperson would only say that the university abides by all biohazard and lab safety regulations. PCRM obtained the records from UC Davis through public information requests. Conference by Elon Musk at Viva technology startups and innovation fair 2023. It is unclear whether further records exist that provide a different or fuller account of what happened. The announcement of Musk’s latest venture comes at a precarious moment for Musk. Reuters reviewed the UC Davis records cited by PCRM in its letter. While Neuralink's partnership with UC Davis ended in 2020, PCRM said the company continues to employ the neurosurgeon who oversaw the experiments and other staff involved may also still be employed.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |