It is not surprising that Elon Musk is now at the forefront of implementing computer interfaces in the human brain. His recent successes with Tesla and Space X has revolutionised technology and he continues to innovate now with the ‘goal to restore autonomy to those with unmet medical needs’ , but more importantly he aims to unlock human potential.
What is neuralink?
Founded in 2016 by Elon Musk and Jared Birchall , Musk has stated that neuralink is an implant in the human skull and will essentially work symbiotically with the brain connecting the user to the internet allowing control over different technologies.
After reading a recent article about Neuralink first human implant, I was wondering why controversies has the company undergone?
Billionaire Elon Musk and the logo for his groundbreaking neurotechonology company, Neuralink.
Neuralink was founded in 2016 by Elon Musk, owner of the social media company X, formerly known as Twitter. The aim of this neurotechnology is to create an interface with the the human brain and electronic devices such as smartphones in order to help treat people with potential brain injuries and certain behavioural disorders. As of January 2024, Musk tweeted the first every human implant surgery had been successful and the patient is recovering well.
However, the company has undergone plenty of controversial over the years.
Stem cells have played a key role in regenerative medicine since their introduction in 1958. They’ve been irreplaceable in their clinical applications, including treatment of skin burns, reproductive disorders and pulmonary dysfunctions, and have great potential for treating currently untreatable conditions and growing organs for transplants. But my question is whether they will ever have the potential to regrow entire limbs?
I appreciate this is a significant leap from e.g. a liver regrowing after donation for a transplant (which really is just tissue hyperplasia), but what makes us so different from creatures such as the axolotl that are capable of regrowing entire limbs?
I found an article that has provided some insight into why this simply isn’t possible in humans. 🙁
A heart condition meant Ryan required a transplant at 18, however after suffering a cardiac arrest just a few days later, lack of blood flow to his legs caused his calf muscles to die and he needed amputation of both legs. Ryan was fitted with prosthetic limbs but walking with these new legs became too painful and he had to stop. He was then fitted with a spinal cord simulator which sends small electrical impulses to his spinal cord and blocks pain signals travelling back to his brain. Since this device was fitted Ryan says his life has changed. He is able to walk again and even enjoys nights out with his brother and friends 🙂
Could having an extra set of thumbs boost our capabilities as humans?
While browsing the web, I stumbled across an article discussing and assessing the potential benefits of manufacturing and utilising extra limbs to help the public with work and home life. We already know the benefits of replacing previously lost body parts, but is it possible that adding additional limbs to typically functioning limbs could make humans more efficient. Could it be that waiters could carry more plates with an extra thumb, could a builder lay more bricks with an extra arm, could we run faster with an extra leg?
Instead of replacing limbs, scientists are looking at augmenting the remaining functioning limb.
When thinking about how an extra limb could improve the efficiency could improve my own life, the opportunities seem endless, as a biomedical science student, an thumb could mean that holding double the test tubes.
A New Scientist article last month discussed whether a cloned monkey might mean we can clone humans. The monkey in question is now 3 years old and has not shown any health issues. To clone the monkey fetal cells were used along with a non-cloned placenta. This raises a tonne of ethical issues.
As the war in Ukraine continues there has been reports of an increased need for limb amputation. Therefore, prosthetic limbs could be more important than ever in Ukraine. This interesting article describes how Aether Biomedical has partnered with the Ukraine based Superhuman Centre to increase the availability of prosthetics to those injured in Ukraine. So far they have raised over $7 million and successfully fitted patients in Ukraine with the company’s flagship product ‘Zeus hand’.
Muscle fiber consists of a bundle of myofibril (left). Bio-hybrid artificial muscle is composed of CNT fibe, PU fiber, and skeletal muscle fiber (right).
I recently read an article on hermit crabs that were using plastic bottle caps as homes instead of discarded snail shells. I think this seemingly tiny act really shows how much of an impact we have had as a species on the environment around us. For these animals to have chosen dirty plastic bottle caps and broken light bulb shells instead of their natural spiral shells is a devastating realisation. The scientists who were studying this found that 10 out of the 16 species of terrestrial crabs were using artificial shells like this. That is way too many!
A hermit crab using a red broken plastic bottle lid as an artificial shell.
It isn’t too late to make a change though. If we actually put funding into removing pollution from our oceans and land then not only would it make the biodiversity increase but also, for those concerned about money, it would actually increase the revenue gained from things like tourism. Companies really need to start caring more about their impact and less about profits otherwise the planet will pay more than it already has. Whilst there are things that we as individuals are able to do, like recycling where possible and reducing waste, it is so much more difficult if the major companies are not on board, as they are the producers of most of the plastic waste and pollution found in our oceans.
I recently came across some research from a team of scientists at Tufts University in Massachusetts, describing their development of ‘anthrobots’. For those like myself, who have never heard of this before, anthrobots are spheres of human tracheal cells that are grown in vitro to form spheroids of a few hundred cells each. The cilia on the outside cells allows the anthrobots to “swim” in patterns, prompting Levin and his team to consider their potential as therapeutic agents.
Anthrobots are spheroids of human tracheal cells (usually a few hundred each) that can be used to deliver therapy.
Levin and his team tested the therapeutic potential of anthrobots to heal a layer of neural tissue that had been damaged by a scratch. They observed that the anthrobots joined together to form a ‘superbot’ – sounds cool, right? What’s even cooler is that after 3 days of incubating the damaged neural tissue with the ‘superbot’, the tissue was completely healed! This surprised the team as this happened without any genetic modification, just the anthrobot’s own functionality. As stated by co-author of the study, Gizem Gumuskaya, it was “not obvious that you’re going to get that kind of response”, prompting the team to think of the wider applications.
Anthrobots come together to form a ‘superbot’, which can then be used therapeutically to repair damaged tissue.
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