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The American technology company Neuralink has received U.S. government approval to test its brain implant device in humans.
美国科技公司Neuralink已获得美国政府批准，将在人体上测试其大脑植入设备。
The approval came from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
美国食品药品监督管理局批准了该请求。
Neuralink says the FDA's approval will permit the company to expand its current testing program involving animals.
Neuralink表示，美国食品药品监督管理局的批准将允许该公司扩大其目前涉及动物的测试计划。
Neuralink is owned by American billionaire Elon Musk.
Neuralink的所有者是美国亿万富翁埃隆·马斯克。
He also owns several other companies, including Tesla, SpaceX and Twitter.
他还拥有其他几家公司，包括特斯拉、太空探索技术公司和推特。
The coin-sized device is designed to be placed inside the skull.
这个硬币大小的设备被设计成可以放在头骨里。
Small wires connect it directly to the brain.
细小的电线将它直接连接到大脑。
The implant contains a small computer that is built to communicate with the brain.
该植入物包含一台小型计算机，用于与大脑交流。
This lets it control operations in the body.
这让它可以控制体内的活动。
Neuralink has said the technology is designed to treat brain disorders and help spinal cord injury victims regain body movement.
Neuralink表示，这项技术旨在治疗脑部疾病，帮助脊髓损伤患者恢复身体活动。
It might also be able to help blind people see again.
它或许还能帮助盲人重见光明。
Musk 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.
马斯克曾表示，他认为该设备还可以用来提高智力，帮助人类赶上超级计算机和人工智能技术。
Neuralink said in a statement that the FDA approval was "an important first step" for the technology.
Neuralink在一份声明中表示，美国食品药品监督管理局的批准是这项技术“重要的第一步”。
"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.
Neuralink在推特上说：“我们很高兴地告诉大家，我们已经获得了美国食品药品监督管理局的批准，我们可以启动第一项人体临床研究。”
Neuralink said it had not yet started the process of choosing human subjects to test the implants on.
Neuralink表示，它还没有开始选择人类受试者来测试该植入物的流程。
Musk spoke about the technology during a presentation last December.
马斯克在去年12月的一次演示中谈到了这项技术。
He said the company had been "working hard to be ready for our first human (implant)."
他说，该公司一直在“努力为我们的第一个人体（植入）项目做准备。”
He added that the company wanted to be "extremely careful" and make sure the implant works "well before putting a device in a human."
他补充说，该公司希望“极其小心”，确保植入物“在植入人体之前”正常运转。
During the presentation, Neuralink showed several monkeys "playing" simple video games and controlling a computer with use of the Neuralink implant.
在演示期间，Neuralink展示了几只猴子在被植入该植入物的情况下可以玩简单的视频游戏，并控制电脑。
The company has also tested the device on pigs and sheep.
该公司还在猪和羊身上测试了该设备。
Reuters news agency has reported on the company's animal experiments in the past.
路透社过去曾报道过该公司的动物实验。
Some Neuralink employees told Reuters last year that the company had made mistakes in animal operations.
去年，Neuralink的一些员工告诉路透社，该公司在动物手术中犯了错误。
They said the mistakes came because the process was hurried.
他们说，之所以出现错误，是因为过程过于仓促。
This led to more animal deaths than necessary, the employees said.
员工们说，这导致了更多且不必要的动物死亡。
Neuralink 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.
员工们告诉路透社，Neuralink在动物身上测试了植入物，希望产生有助于该公司获得美国食品药品监督管理局批准其进行人体测试的数据。
In one 2021 case reported by Reuters, the company implanted 25 out of 60 pigs with the wrong-sized devices.
据路透社报道，在2021年的一个案例中，该公司在60头猪中挑选了25头植入了尺寸错误的设备。
All the pigs were later killed.
所有的猪后来都被杀了。
Employees told the news agency that such mistakes could have been easily avoided with more preparation.
员工们告诉路透社，如果有更多的准备，这样的错误是可以很容易避免的。
Reuters said it reached out to both Neuralink and Musk for comments on its reports.
路透社表示，他们联系了Neuralink和马斯克，请他们对其报道发表评论。
Neither answered the requests for comments.
双方都没有回复记者的置评请求。
The Department of Transportation is separately looking into Neuralink, Reuters reported.
据路透社报道，交通部正在单独调查Neuralink。
The department's investigation centers on whether the company illegally transported dangerous pathogens on devices removed from monkey brains without following effective containment measures.
该部门的调查重点是该公司是否在没有采取有效遏制措施的情况下，非法运输从猴子脑中取出的设备上的危险病原体。
Neuralink is also under investigation by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Office of Inspector General, the news agency said.
路透社称，Neuralink也在接受美国农业部监察长办公室的调查。
That investigation is looking into possible animal-welfare violations and the USDA's oversight of Neuralink.
这项调查正在调查该公司可能违反动物福利的行为以及美国农业部对Neuralink的失察。
Several other companies are also working on devices to link the brain to computers.
其他几家公司也在研发将大脑与计算机连接起来的设备。
One of them is New York-based startup Synchron.
其中之一是总部位于纽约的初创公司Synchron。
It announced in July it had completed its first brain-computer implant, called an interface, in a human.
该公司在7月份宣布，它已经完成了第一个在人体上植入脑—计算机植入物（即脑机接口）的测试。
Rajesh Rao is co-director of the Center for Neurotechnology at the University of Washington.
拉杰什·拉奥是华盛顿大学神经技术中心的联席主任。
After Musk's presentation last year, Rao said he does not believe Neuralink is ahead of other companies in developing brain-computer interfaces.
在马斯克去年的演讲之后，拉奥表示，他认为Neuralink在开发脑机接口方面不会领先于其他公司。
But he said he does think the company is "quite ahead" in hardware development of the devices.
但他表示，他确实认为该公司在设备的硬件开发方面“相当领先”。
I'm Bryan Lynn.
布莱恩·林恩为您播报。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
