Mind control a cockroach with your iPhone The US government is officially against the idea. http://www.businessinsider.com.au/cyborg-cockroaches-start-ethics-debate-2013-10
I don't like bugs and insects but this is pretty cruel to me. Maybe I'm not the majority but I don't think surgically fixing an object onto another being and controlling it can be classified as ethical - especially when it's being sold to anyone and not really using as research.
The frogs I decected in school could hardly be considered research, but were extremely valuable in teaching. Anyone willing to go through all of the steps to control a roach would likely gain the same (or more) knowledge. If you simply had to point your phone at it and gained full control, it'd be a completely different thing, but, with all of the steps involved, I would assume that most who do this are interested in the science behind it.
That's disgusting. I hate bugs but I can't even imagine what a ten year old would be doing with a controlled roach.
Cool, can I use this on my apprentices at work? LOL! Would not want a problem of roaches in my home if they got loose. Sure are hard to get rid of.
"Wired" brains in the ape family (chimps, macaques, lemurs) have been used well ...for YEARS ...think back to the late 50s & early 60s & America & Russia's space programs. "Ham" was but one of the more well-known examples of this and there was quite a lengthy line of predecessors to him. In many cases, it's still de rigueur for bio-medical/pharmacological research before human trials. Sad truth but it's there. Besides, doesn't this whole story sound just a bit Wikipedia-ish to you?