EEL4746

The Cockroach Dilemma

Anthony Cappetto, Boris Barreto, Steven Kwon & Nahom Tewolde Prototypes for controlling another living organisms mind have been present within the science fiction realm for quite some time. However, this concept is no longer limited to fiction and much closer to reality than the general public may have previously believed. A company by the name of Backyard Brains now sells an experiment kit they call The RoboRoach. The kit is designed to allow neuroscience enthusiasts to mount a control unit onto the back of a living cockroach with the intention of controlling the bugs movements via remote control. The first and foremost concern on everyones mind is the current and potential global, economic, environmental and societal impact of making a device, such as The RoboRoach kit, available to the general public. Will the education benefit be enough to outweigh the cost and risk involved? Backyard Brains is a newly founded company created and ran by a team of scientists and engineers dedicated to developing neuroscience experiment kits intended to educate its consumers. Being that the company is relatively novel, there are only a handful of kits available, one of which is The RoboRoach. Due to the overwhelming attention The RoboRoach received, Backyard Brains responded by posting a page addressing the ethics in using invertebrates for educational purposes. According to the young company, a cockroach is currently the best organism to use in order to demonstrate neural activity in the brain and throughout the body. The company further proclaims that the benefits of roach testing outweigh any costs (2). The company also reports having received a multitude of messages from parents of children with neurological afflictions thanking them for 1!

EEL4746 making neuroscience more comprehensive. Backyard Brains also addresses some specific criticisms of their work on the same page including comments such as Youre causing pain or objectifying the cockroach as well as Animal experiments have no place in educational demonstrations and its just for show (2). Backyard Brains assures skeptics that the roach feels no pain during the procedure because they are anesthetized for the duration of the experiment. The company also rejects the notion that they simply consider the roach to be a pest, when in reality, they believe a newfound appreciation for the creature will ensue as a result of the neural activity that can be observed. They carry on to argue that demonstrations of this sort, should not be used simply for fun, and that their intentions are to teach science and physiology in an interactive way, and using animals for experiments has many benefits. Acknowledging their controversial claim, they go on to explain that to train people to be proficient in science, its best to use actual experimentation and observation of the world (1). To achieve some insight into the procedure, The RoboRoach instructs the experimenter to first dip a live cockroach into ice water to anesthetize it, then to attach three electrodes to the roaches head and connect three wires to the thorax and to each of the two antenna, and finally, to attach the microcontroller to the roaches back (4). To control the roach, a wireless remote controller transmits a signal that applies a 3-volt jolt through the roachs antenna. Although Backyard Brains advertises The RoboRoach for teachers or parents, you can order the kit online without any restrictions, being where PETAs (People for Ethical Treatment of Animals) main concern emerges. PETA claims Backyard Brains' The RoboRoach kit is not just unethical, but also illegal (3). General counsel Jeffrey Kerr stated, "The RoboRoach kit teaches kids the dangerous lesson that

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EEL4746 it's OK to hurt and torment animals-something that PETA believes is not only never OK but also clearly illegal in this case. Cockroaches are living beings with the ability to feel pain-not inanimate objects for kids or anyone else to stab and cut apart for fun." To date, PETA has only filed a formal complaint with the Michigan attorney general. They say that the kit is in violation with the state's Public Health Code and the Insect, Pest and Plant Disease Act. PETA claims that Backyard Brains is enabling and encouraging people to practice veterinary medicine without a license, which, by law, is a felony (3). With compelling arguments for both sides of the issue well defined, our group believes there is a lesson to be learned from each organizations platform. As scientists and engineers we are constantly developing new and improved ways to make life easier and more convenient for humankind on our planet, which as it seems, is the underlying motivation behind The RoboRoach. However, in the same regard we also agree with PETAs stance that experiments of this nature should be vigorously controlled and performed solely in the context of academia. Dissections of various species are performed routinely in a high school biology classroom, which is acceptable as well as beneficial to the students. Individuals cannot legally buy a cat, dip it ice water and try to control it remotely by attaching electrodes and a microcontroller to its back. In other words, animal testing is a necessity for scientific development and research, but should be limited to a controlled educational environment. Otherwise experiments of this kind would be limited to human testing, which as it seems PETA may be more enthusiastic about that than the testing on cockroaches. All jokes aside, we agree with Backyard Brains intentions of creating simple, and dare we say fun experiments to enlighten individuals on the subject of neuroscience, just not their execution.

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EEL4746 Works Cited (1) "About Backyard Brains." About Backyard Brains. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2013. (2) "Ethical Issues Regarding the Use of Invertebrates in Education - Backyard Brains." Ethical Issues Regarding the Use of Invertebrates in Education - Backyard Brains. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2013. (3) Kankudti, Affirunisa. "Remote-Controlling Cockroaches Is Against Law - PETA." Weblog post. Nature World News RSS. NatureWorldNews.com, n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2013. (4) "The Roboroach." The Roboroach. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2013.

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