After years of trials with monkeys, Elon Musk’s brain-computer interface start-up Neuralink Corp., says it’s now looking for human volunteers to take part in a new set of trials.

Since the company got off the ground in 2017, the mission has been to achieve “symbiosis with artificial intelligence.” First, the symbiosis was practiced on monkeys, which, despite seeing some promising results, elicited criticism from animal rights activists. That criticism is ongoing, but the outcome could mean paralyzed people gaining control over their bodies once again.

Musk’s company recently received the green light from the Food and Drug Administration to start human trials after Neuralink vowed to give severely disabled people back their “full body functionality” or perhaps give a congenitally blind person the power of sight.

The FDA approval was a significant win for Neuralink, whose trials will mean volunteers who will have to undergo invasive brain surgery. At the time, the company struggled to gain FDA approval, calling the eventual win “an important first step that will one day allow our technology to help many people.”

The Link, a tiny implant that will process and translate a person’s neural signals, will be connected to a series of very small threads that will be inserted into the volunteers’ brains. It’s hoped from there, the person will be able to control a computer or other devices. The system is hailed as a possible victory over nature with technology if, indeed, it is successful.

Right now, the company is looking for at least 10 people over the age of 22 who have a vertical spinal cord injury or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, to take part in a six-year trial that Neuralink is calling the “PRIME Study,” for Precise Robotically Implanted Brain-Computer Interface. The first 18 months will consist of nine visits with researchers, after which they will spend at least two hours a week in actual brain-computer interface sessions. This will continue for about five years.

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