DARPA develops tiny implants that treat diseases and depression without medication

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in science on (#2SFB)
story imageSo, how y'all feeling? We can fix that.

DARPA, on the back of the US government's BRAIN program, has begun the development of tiny electronic implants that interface directly with your nervous system and can directly control and regulate many different diseases and chronic conditions, such as arthritis, PTSD, inflammatory bowel diseases (Crohn's disease), and depression. The program, called ElectRx (pronounced 'electrics'), ultimately aims to replace medication with "closed-loop" neural implants, which constantly assess the state of your health, and then provide the necessary nerve stimulation to keep your various organs and biological systems functioning properly.

The old joke is that there's no need to study biology since eventually it's all just chemistry anyway. But maybe behind the chemistry it's actually all just electrical? If that's the case, I'd like a USB port wired in, please.

Re: Electrical (Score: 1)

by evilviper@pipedot.org on 2014-09-17 20:21 (#2SHE)

That's not Sci-Fi, it has been standard operating procedure for the past half-century. Convicted rapists in many situations (depending on jurisdiction) have been required to take pills or injections that reduce sexual urges, as a condition of their parole for many years. It has been happening in the US since 1966, and is law in several states. In Europe, Alan Turing chose that punishment for his homosexuality, rather than jail time, back in 1952:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemical_castration
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