Pentagon claims that their medical researchers have successfully created a sci-fi inspired microchip that can detect COVID-19 when inserted under the skin.
In a New York Post report from CBS' "60 Minutes" interview with the Pentagon on Sunday evening, the unit said that its Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has managed to develop a "revolutionary technology" that could detect diseases like COVID-19.
Among the "top-secret" unit's roles is to study "emerging technologies for military use" including "biological weapons," the report noted.
The COVID-detecting microchip, according to 60 Minutes, is a tissue-like gel that would be implanted underneath a human skin to monitor an individual's health.
Retired Colonel Matt Hepburn - an infectious disease physician commissioned by the DARPA director to "take pandemics off the table" - provided details on the microchip. He revealed that the new technology had not been used outside the Defense Department. The new technology, according to Hepburn, will detect COVID-19 in a patient before it leads to an outbreak.
"We challenge the research community to come up with solutions that may sound like science fiction," he said in the interview. "And we're very willing to take chances with high-risk investments that may not work. But if they do, we can completely transform the landscape."
Along the report, NY Post refutes conspiracy theory claims that Microsoft's Bill Gates wants to "insert a microscopic global positioning system into our bodies" through the administration of vaccines. The basis was Dr. Hepburn's statement that "it's not some dreaded government microchip to track your every move."
Comparing the chip to a car's "check engine" light, the doctor explained that the "tiny green" sensor could tell disease-causing chemical reactions within the body and would give signals if the person's about to get symptoms soon. Once implanted, the chip would continuously test the host's blood for any presence of a virus. If, say, COVID-19 was detected, the chip's signal would alert the patient before he infects anyone. A rapid blood test could also be self-administered to verify the chip's diagnosis.
"We can have that information in three to five minutes. As you truncate that time, as you diagnose and treat, what you do is you stop the infection in its tracks," Hepburn said.
The subdermal implant is now in its late-stage testing added the doctor.
DARPA scientists stressed the importance of their research which has reportedly prevented outbreaks in crowded military quarters. One of which was the one that happened in March and April 2020 where 1271 crews of the USS Theodore Roosevelt tested positive with the coronavirus.
Part of the segment features another technology which enables a regular dialysis machine to "remove COVID-19 from the blood using a customized filter." The treatment was tested on a military spouse for four days and the result was promising.
NY Post asserts that much of Pentagon's research "has been critical in stopping the pandemic." This includes the virus-detecting microchip along with the development of vaccines in short span of time.
"For us, at DARPA, if the experts are laughing at you and saying it's impossible, you're in the right space," said Hepburn.
