INTRODUCTION TO A BIOCHIP:
A biochip is a collection of miniaturized test sites (microarrays) arranged on a solid substrate that permits many tests to be performed at the same time in order to achieve higher throughput and speed. Typically, a biochip's surface area is no larger than a fingernail. Like a computer chip that can perform millions of mathematical operations in one second, a biochip can perform thousands of biological reactions, such as decoding genes, in a few seconds.
A genetic biochip is designed to "freeze" into place the structures of many short strands of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), the basic chemical instruction that determines the characteristics of an organism. Effectively, it is used as a kind of "test tube" for real chemical samples. A specially designed microscope can determine where the sample hybridized with DNA strands in the biochip. Biochips helped to dramatically accelerate the identification of the estimated 80,000 genes in human DNA, an ongoing world-wide research collaboration known as the Human Genome Project. The microchip is described as a sort of "word search" function that can quickly sequence DNA.
In addition to genetic applications, the biochip is being used in toxicological, protein, and biochemical research. Biochips can also be used to rapidly detect chemical agents used in biological warfare so that defensive measures can be taken.
In recent years, a lot of progress has been made in the area of implantable biochip technology. The above quote from Mr. Small suggests that we are crossing the line between animal and human applications, and Hughes Identification Devices has been at the forefront of this development. Effective August 29,1993, the Safe Medical Devices Registration Act requires all prosthetic medical implants in humans to be identified with a rice-size biochip-the same kind that is being implanted in animals---which contains vital information. Hughes Identification Devices is the main supplier of these medical biochips.
A recent article in Popular Science magazine titled, Future Watch: Body Binary (October, 1994) predicts, "Within the next ten years, we'll have miniature computers inside us to monitor and perhaps even control our blood pressure, heart rate, and cholesterol. Within twenty years, such computers will correct visual and hearing signals, making glasses and hearing aids obsolete."
As technology advances, the various uses for microchips and biochips seem to be limited only by our imagination---a truly frightening thought given the humanistic, socialistic, Orwellian-type society in which we live. Today, the most popular application of the implantable biochip transponder is for the purpose of animal, or pet, identification. But the day is not far off when Big-Brother's New-World-Order global government will "tag" humans with the same "animal" biochips.
When biologists and computer scientists work to combine strands of biological material with computer chips, they create biochips.
A biochip is structurally similar to a traditional computer chip, except that it replaces the usual transistors with organic molecules, typically small strands of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). DNA is the cellular material that contains all of the programming that controls the growth, development, and behavior of living cells, so the choice of DNA for the organic molecules is an obvious one.
Although the exact construction of a biochip is anything but simple, the overall idea of the design is very simple. Essentially, a biochip looks and functions like a tiny ice cube tray.
The current, in use, biochip implant system is actually a fairly simple device. Today’s, biochip implant is basically a small (micro) computer chip, inserted under the skin, for identification purposes.
The biochip implant system consists of two components; a transponder and a reader or scanner. The transponder is the actual biochip implant. The biochip system is radio frequency identification (RFID) system, using low-frequency radio signals to communicate between the biochip and reader. The reading range or activation range, between reader and biochip is small, normally between 2 and 12 inches.
The transponder: The transponder is the actual biochip implant. It is a passive transponder, meaning it contains no battery or energy of its own. In comparison, an active transponder would provide its own energy source, normally a small battery. Because the passive biochip contains no battery, or nothing to wear out, it has a very long life, up to 99 years, and no maintenance. Being passive, it's inactive until the reader activates it by sending it a low-power electrical charge.
The reader "reads" or "scans" the implanted biochip and receives back data (in this case an identification number) from the biochip. The communication between biochip and reader is via low-frequency radio waves.
The biochip-transponder consists of four parts; computer microchip, antenna coil, capacitor and the glass capsule.
Computer Microchip: The microchip stores a unique identification number from 10 to 15 digits long. The storage capacity of the current microchips is limited, capable of storing only a single ID number. AVID (American Veterinary Identification Devices), claims their chips, using a format, has the capability of over 70 trillion unique numbers. The unique ID number is "etched" or encoded via a laser onto the surface of the microchip before assembly. Once the number is encoded it is impossible to alter. The microchip also contains the electronic circuitry necessary to transmit the ID number to the "reader".
Antenna Coil: This is normally a simple, coil of copper wire around a ferrite or iron core. This tiny, primitive, radio antenna "receives and sends" signals from the reader or scanner.
Tuning Capacitor: The capacitor stores the small electrical charge (less than 1/1000 of a watt) sent by the reader or scanner, which activates the transponder. This "activation" allows the transponder to send back the ID number encoded in the computer chip. Because "radio waves" are utilized to communicate between the transponder and reader, the capacitor is "tuned" to the same frequency as the reader.
Glass Capsule: The glass capsule "houses" the microchip, antenna coil and capacitor. It is a small capsule, the smallest measuring 11 mm in length and 2 mm in diameter, about the size of an uncooked grain of rice. The capsule is made of biocompatible material such as soda lime glass. After assembly, the capsule is hermetically (air-tight) sealed, so no bodily fluids can touch the electronics inside. Because the glass is very smooth and susceptible to movement, a material such as a polypropylene polymer sheath is attached to one end of the capsule. This sheath provides a compatible surface which the bodily tissue fibers bond or interconnect, resulting in a permanent placement of the biochip.
The biochip is inserted into the subject with a hypodermic syringe. Injection is safe and simple, comparable to common vaccines. Anesthesia is not required nor recommended. In dogs and cats, the biochip is usually injected behind the neck between the shoulder blades. Trovan, Ltd., markets an implant, featuring a patented "zip quill", which you simply press in, no syringe is needed. According to AVID "Once implanted, the identity tag is virtually impossible to retrieve. . . The number can never be altered."
HOW DOES A BIOCHIP WORK?
A biochip works a lot like a set of petri dishes or test tubes. Each sample of biological material is different from the other samples on the chip, meaning that it will react (or fail to react) to the local environment in its own way. To use the chip, scientists expose the biochip to a specific environment and monitor the fluorescent characteristics of each reservoir. By seeing which biological samples react and in what way, the scientists can determine the composition of the environment. Because a biochip may contain tens of thousands of unique biological samples, each with its own ability to sense and react, the biochip is actually a massive parallel processor.
Biochips derive their importance from the tremendous progress that is being made in understanding the molecular processes underlying disease. This opens up the prospect of using them in preventive medicine if we can devise methods to reveal these processes before any physical symptoms occur. From the presence of, for example, certain proteins in blood or urine, doctors are increasingly able to draw important diagnostic conclusions.
We are studying biochips that can detect hundreds of different proteins and nucleic acids from a test fluid in a single analysis. Existing methods to detectthese molecules require bulky equipment and analysis times are lengthy.
Biochips will yield very compact and sensitive devices for analyzing body fluids rapidly. The biochip contains a large number of specific molecules that capture different target proteins or nucleic acids from the test fluid. A built-in detection method then reveals which molecules are bound, and this tells us which proteins and nucleic acids are present in the sample.
The final step in animal biochip identification occurs when the scanner transfers chip ID codes to various external computer databases. Pet owners are then located via various database networks maintained by many organizations including the American Kennel Club (AKC). From these sources pet owners are located and notified of their animal's whereabouts. InfoPet has a "Recovery Network" with a 24-hour Hotline (1-800-INFOPET). Government animal regulation and control agencies, shelters, and clinics participate in this network. InfoPet can identify any of its registrants by means of this microchip ID number.
In most cases the pet's name, owner's name, social security number, zip code, and telephone number are available. AVID is participating with the PetTrac system, which is another national network of animal databases. The typical charge for biochipping a pet is $30.00.
A biochip is a collection of miniaturized test sites (microarrays) arranged on a solid substrate that permits many tests to be performed at the same time in order to achieve higher throughput and speed. Typically, a biochip's surface area is no larger than a fingernail. Like a computer chip that can perform millions of mathematical operations in one second, a biochip can perform thousands of biological reactions, such as decoding genes, in a few seconds.
A genetic biochip is designed to "freeze" into place the structures of many short strands of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), the basic chemical instruction that determines the characteristics of an organism. Effectively, it is used as a kind of "test tube" for real chemical samples. A specially designed microscope can determine where the sample hybridized with DNA strands in the biochip. Biochips helped to dramatically accelerate the identification of the estimated 80,000 genes in human DNA, an ongoing world-wide research collaboration known as the Human Genome Project. The microchip is described as a sort of "word search" function that can quickly sequence DNA.
In addition to genetic applications, the biochip is being used in toxicological, protein, and biochemical research. Biochips can also be used to rapidly detect chemical agents used in biological warfare so that defensive measures can be taken.
In recent years, a lot of progress has been made in the area of implantable biochip technology. The above quote from Mr. Small suggests that we are crossing the line between animal and human applications, and Hughes Identification Devices has been at the forefront of this development. Effective August 29,1993, the Safe Medical Devices Registration Act requires all prosthetic medical implants in humans to be identified with a rice-size biochip-the same kind that is being implanted in animals---which contains vital information. Hughes Identification Devices is the main supplier of these medical biochips.
A recent article in Popular Science magazine titled, Future Watch: Body Binary (October, 1994) predicts, "Within the next ten years, we'll have miniature computers inside us to monitor and perhaps even control our blood pressure, heart rate, and cholesterol. Within twenty years, such computers will correct visual and hearing signals, making glasses and hearing aids obsolete."
As technology advances, the various uses for microchips and biochips seem to be limited only by our imagination---a truly frightening thought given the humanistic, socialistic, Orwellian-type society in which we live. Today, the most popular application of the implantable biochip transponder is for the purpose of animal, or pet, identification. But the day is not far off when Big-Brother's New-World-Order global government will "tag" humans with the same "animal" biochips.
When biologists and computer scientists work to combine strands of biological material with computer chips, they create biochips.
A biochip is structurally similar to a traditional computer chip, except that it replaces the usual transistors with organic molecules, typically small strands of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). DNA is the cellular material that contains all of the programming that controls the growth, development, and behavior of living cells, so the choice of DNA for the organic molecules is an obvious one.
Although the exact construction of a biochip is anything but simple, the overall idea of the design is very simple. Essentially, a biochip looks and functions like a tiny ice cube tray.
The current, in use, biochip implant system is actually a fairly simple device. Today’s, biochip implant is basically a small (micro) computer chip, inserted under the skin, for identification purposes.
The biochip implant system consists of two components; a transponder and a reader or scanner. The transponder is the actual biochip implant. The biochip system is radio frequency identification (RFID) system, using low-frequency radio signals to communicate between the biochip and reader. The reading range or activation range, between reader and biochip is small, normally between 2 and 12 inches.
The transponder: The transponder is the actual biochip implant. It is a passive transponder, meaning it contains no battery or energy of its own. In comparison, an active transponder would provide its own energy source, normally a small battery. Because the passive biochip contains no battery, or nothing to wear out, it has a very long life, up to 99 years, and no maintenance. Being passive, it's inactive until the reader activates it by sending it a low-power electrical charge.
The reader "reads" or "scans" the implanted biochip and receives back data (in this case an identification number) from the biochip. The communication between biochip and reader is via low-frequency radio waves.
The biochip-transponder consists of four parts; computer microchip, antenna coil, capacitor and the glass capsule.
Computer Microchip: The microchip stores a unique identification number from 10 to 15 digits long. The storage capacity of the current microchips is limited, capable of storing only a single ID number. AVID (American Veterinary Identification Devices), claims their chips, using a format, has the capability of over 70 trillion unique numbers. The unique ID number is "etched" or encoded via a laser onto the surface of the microchip before assembly. Once the number is encoded it is impossible to alter. The microchip also contains the electronic circuitry necessary to transmit the ID number to the "reader".
Antenna Coil: This is normally a simple, coil of copper wire around a ferrite or iron core. This tiny, primitive, radio antenna "receives and sends" signals from the reader or scanner.
Tuning Capacitor: The capacitor stores the small electrical charge (less than 1/1000 of a watt) sent by the reader or scanner, which activates the transponder. This "activation" allows the transponder to send back the ID number encoded in the computer chip. Because "radio waves" are utilized to communicate between the transponder and reader, the capacitor is "tuned" to the same frequency as the reader.
Glass Capsule: The glass capsule "houses" the microchip, antenna coil and capacitor. It is a small capsule, the smallest measuring 11 mm in length and 2 mm in diameter, about the size of an uncooked grain of rice. The capsule is made of biocompatible material such as soda lime glass. After assembly, the capsule is hermetically (air-tight) sealed, so no bodily fluids can touch the electronics inside. Because the glass is very smooth and susceptible to movement, a material such as a polypropylene polymer sheath is attached to one end of the capsule. This sheath provides a compatible surface which the bodily tissue fibers bond or interconnect, resulting in a permanent placement of the biochip.
The biochip is inserted into the subject with a hypodermic syringe. Injection is safe and simple, comparable to common vaccines. Anesthesia is not required nor recommended. In dogs and cats, the biochip is usually injected behind the neck between the shoulder blades. Trovan, Ltd., markets an implant, featuring a patented "zip quill", which you simply press in, no syringe is needed. According to AVID "Once implanted, the identity tag is virtually impossible to retrieve. . . The number can never be altered."
HOW DOES A BIOCHIP WORK?
A biochip works a lot like a set of petri dishes or test tubes. Each sample of biological material is different from the other samples on the chip, meaning that it will react (or fail to react) to the local environment in its own way. To use the chip, scientists expose the biochip to a specific environment and monitor the fluorescent characteristics of each reservoir. By seeing which biological samples react and in what way, the scientists can determine the composition of the environment. Because a biochip may contain tens of thousands of unique biological samples, each with its own ability to sense and react, the biochip is actually a massive parallel processor.
Biochips derive their importance from the tremendous progress that is being made in understanding the molecular processes underlying disease. This opens up the prospect of using them in preventive medicine if we can devise methods to reveal these processes before any physical symptoms occur. From the presence of, for example, certain proteins in blood or urine, doctors are increasingly able to draw important diagnostic conclusions.
We are studying biochips that can detect hundreds of different proteins and nucleic acids from a test fluid in a single analysis. Existing methods to detectthese molecules require bulky equipment and analysis times are lengthy.
Biochips will yield very compact and sensitive devices for analyzing body fluids rapidly. The biochip contains a large number of specific molecules that capture different target proteins or nucleic acids from the test fluid. A built-in detection method then reveals which molecules are bound, and this tells us which proteins and nucleic acids are present in the sample.
The final step in animal biochip identification occurs when the scanner transfers chip ID codes to various external computer databases. Pet owners are then located via various database networks maintained by many organizations including the American Kennel Club (AKC). From these sources pet owners are located and notified of their animal's whereabouts. InfoPet has a "Recovery Network" with a 24-hour Hotline (1-800-INFOPET). Government animal regulation and control agencies, shelters, and clinics participate in this network. InfoPet can identify any of its registrants by means of this microchip ID number.
In most cases the pet's name, owner's name, social security number, zip code, and telephone number are available. AVID is participating with the PetTrac system, which is another national network of animal databases. The typical charge for biochipping a pet is $30.00.
0 comments:
Post a Comment