The RoboRoach kit, due out this month, allows users to control the movements of a live cockroach through a smartphone application. But PETA says the kit is torture, while the start-up company behind the app emphasizes its hands-on educational value.

Do cockroaches have feelings, too?

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It's the newest debate sparked by RoboRoach, a cockroach cyborg kit that's sparking backlash from animal-rights advocates.

The neural circuit, which must be surgically installed, allows users to control a cockroach's left and right movements through a smartphone app. The insect must first be anesthetized in ice water before users insert electrodes into the roach's clipped antennae.

A beta version of RoboRoach has already been released to the public. But the newest version of the product, funded by more than $12,000 through a Kickstarter campaign, is expected to go on sale some time this month.

Backyard Brains, the Michigan-based start-up company behind the project, argues that the kit provides a hands-on, educational opportunity to teach students about neuroscience.

"Through and through, we're trying to make this an educational product," says Bill Reith, a product engineer and general maker at Backyard Brains. "If someone wanted to just use it as a toy, they're still going to have to learn about this stuff in order to use it."

But the product has stirred a backlash from the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), which filed complaints with Michigan authorities last week. PETA is arguing that the "surgery" required to set up the kit on the roach's back is an illegal practice of veterinary medicine.

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RoboRoach cyborg kit: Cruel or educational?