What's the Business Model For Commercializing Cyborgs?

An anonymous reader points out an article about Backyard Brains, a small company notable for turning cockroaches into cyborgs. The article explores how such an odd use of science and technology can actually form the basis of a business. They primarily work with educational organizations to bring their brand of DIY neuroscience to students and other interested parties. School budgets are often small, so a key part of Backyard Brains's goal is to make things inexpensive. "We want to inspire a generation of citizen-scientists. If we can lower the barrier to entry so the only limit is creativity, that might help with finding treatments for neurological disorders." As they find success, they're developing more research kits, and finding more ways to make cyborg insects into a business.

Comments

Depends on what you mean by "cyborg"

[NotDrWho]

Is this "cyborg" as in "Allows the paralyzed to walk," "Allows the small-dicked to be big-dicked," "Allows a soldier or cop to be bulletproof"?

Or is it "cyborg" as in "We can't actually do anything that anyone would pay for yet, and probably never will."

Because if it's the former, just issue a press release and stand back. If it's the latter, then the answer is "You can't."

Re:The elephant in the room

[antiperimetaparalogo]

Is this ethical? most people eat meat and have no problem for using animals as things, but this is a little more evil that that isn't?

It is more evil. I eat meat, i benefit from experiments on animal, i hunt/fish, i used animals for other things, e.g., horse-carriages, i even turtured creatures as a kid, but i also find this is "a little more evil" - i may be a hypocrite, but i feel questions about ethics must be raised.

Re:Teach the cyborg cockroaches a useful skill

[Culture20]

Or a cyborg cockroach to go and eradicate the other cockroaches. RAID pesticide company might be interested.

What better way to kill cockroaches than having a terminator cockroach. And if you network then Worldwide, we could finally eradicate every living cockroach everywhere. And some fly, too! I really don't see any downside to it at all.

Send it back in time to kill the first cockroach.

Re:Teach the cyborg cockroaches a useful skill

[C R Johnson]

I am not sure cockroaches are the right insect because they are particularly filthy, eating their own poop and all.

However a few years ago a friend of mine remarked how useful ants would be for such a role, for cleaning the floor of crumbs.

I think if you could find a way to borgify insects the profitable sector would be in agriculture.

Sell dragonflies and mantises programmed so seek out and destroy corn pests. Sell engineered grasshoppers who leave the corn alone but eat everything else.