Tag Archives: medicine

Scientist infects himself with a computer virus for research’s sake

British scientist Dr. Mark Gasson of Reading Univeristy has implanted an RFID chip inside his hand.  Today RFID chips have been used to tag animals to keep track of them.  But they also have some uses when implanted in humans.  With such a chip sitting inside Gasson’s hand, this allows him to gain secure access to the University and it also acts like an internal fingerprint reader for a cell phone (his cell phone recognizes the chip and only allows him to access its features).  But with such advances in technology, says Gasson, also comes risks.  And here’s the kicker: Gasson has infected the RFID chip in his hand with a computer virus.  The risk?  After much research, Gasson concludes that a computer virus can spread and infect other medical implants inside the body, such as pace makers.  He goes on to propose that such an “infection” could potentially spread to other people!  Yikes–so is this how the zombie infestation breaks out?  Listen to Dr. Gasson explain his groundbreaking research in the video above.

[Via Engadget; BBCNews]