Microchip Implantation

Microchip Implantation

Bar codes are used in the business world everyday to transform daily tasks into simpler and more accurate endeavors. Bar codes have made life easier for people going to the grocery store or buying items at retail stores. The idea of having a barcode tattoo or a microchip implant that tracks your movement or allows shoppers to purchase groceries with the wave of a finger used to be science fiction until now (Microchip Implants, 1999). Microchip implementation could bring about increased repercussion from those who adhere to strict belief systems heightening the issue of moral relativism already prevalent in the world. The availability of the microchip has created controversy among nations including religious conflicts and issues with personal privacy. While there are disadvantages of implanting microchips in human beings, there are some advantages such as healthcare and security.

The microchip implant with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) was invented in 1969 by Mario Cardullo. He started with a sketch of an RFID tag that became a project he presented to Harvard University. Cardullo and his team began creating an RFID tag based on a passive transporter with a changeable memory instead of an active battery operated device. A small group of development engineers and technicians helped develop the RFID tag that Cardullo and his team started. The initial RFID tag to transmit Radio Frequency through sound and light was issued a patent by the U.S. Patent Office on January 23, 1973. By 1974, the company started by Cardullo closed after disagreements. Even though the company closed, the developments continued (Cardullo, n.d.). With today's technology, we have created an implantable microchip that does not cause an adverse reaction on contact with human tissue. This microchip is the size of a grain of rice, hermetically sealed, and leadless which contains a radio frequency identification device that transmits information when made active by a chip reader (Troyk, 1999). The microchip is expected to have a life span of 20 years and does not run on batteries. The microchip is used to store specific information that is transmitted when in range of a reader. The cost of the product is estimated at a hundred and fifty dollars to two-hundred dollars. Foster & Jaeger (2008) state that the implantable microchips technology by VeriChip was originally developed to track livestock and has been implanted in tens of millions of cats and dogs to identify lost or stolen house pets. Now with the technology today, microchips have a variety of other potential uses and can be implanted into humans. Implanting microchips in human beings remained theoretical until September 11, 2001 when a technology executive saw firefighters writing their badge numbers on their arms so they could be identified if they became disfigured or trapped (Kanellos, 2004). Applied Digital Solutions was the first company to receive approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2002 for their VeriChip for the medical and healthcare fields. Verichip has been implanted in approximately 2,000 people worldwide.

Imbedded within the microchip, VeriChip has a 16-digit identification number similar to a social security number or a bar code. Every bar code contains the numbers 666 which refers to "The Antichrist." The Bible's Book of Revelation, written about two thousand years ago, foretold the coming of a mark containing the "mark of the beast." People who strongly believe in God feel that Revelation 13:16-17 is true and present. In the book of Revelation by John the Prophet, Revelation 13:16-17 states: "He (The Antichrist) causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell, unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name". VeriChips are typically implanted into the flesh of the triceps of the arm; however, several people have injected the chips into their right hand near the thumb. Revelation 13:16 foretells of people wearing the mark of the beast in their right hand, much like the few people that have the VeriChip implanted into their right hand. Another passage from the Bible relates to the barcode imbedded in the microchip. In Samuel 24:10, the verse states: Now David's heart troubled him after he had numbered the people. So David said to the LORD, "I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O LORD, please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have acted very foolishly." King David was punished for numbering people; the act of making a man a nameless, faceless number makes them no longer a human being with a living soul.

The technology surrounding the Holocaust is an example of what a mass numbering system is like and how the Verichip could be used. The numbering system during the Holocaust was used to sort census data for identification with IBM's Hollerith machines. The Hollerith machines used a hand punch to record the data as holes in punch cards and a tabulating machine to count them. The tabulating machine read each potential hole on the punch card causing counters to be incremented and a lid in the sorting box to be opened. The IBM's Hollerith machines, the first automatic data processing system, were built using punch card technology. The punch tool used in these machines bears a resemblance to the syringe used to implant the Verichip (Mark of the Beast, n.d.). The IBM, International Business Machines Corporation, was a major financial contributor to barcodes and the Verichip; furthermore, they are pushing to standardize RFID tags to allow a faster and wider adoption of the technology (Mark of the Beast, n.d.). Some people believe that the microchip implant will represent the numbering system that King David used on his people. The numbering system frightens people. People do not want to be viewed as a number where they are no longer valued as a human being. Although the VeriChip contains the mark of the beast and has relations with the numbering system, the chip is still considered to be the future of technology.

The microchip was originally created for medical uses. The microchip holds a number that is linked to medical records that doctors will be able to quickly obtain if granted access to them. These medical VeriChip implants are meant for five types of patients: people with other medical devices implanted, people with heart problems, people with diabetes, people who are memory-impaired, and people who need medical care frequently. With the VeriChip implanted in people, doctors will be able to scan them if they become unconscious from an accident; thus, being able to access the patient's blood type, medications, and any allergies they may