Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences (ANAS) has published news entitled "Scientists have developed a microchip that detects coronavirus in the human body". ANAS took this information from the website "unikal.org".
The news states that the device was developed by DARPA, the US Army's center for research and development against the pandemic. According to the information, the chip, which is placed under the skin and acts as an early warning system, detects when the coronavirus enters the body without any symptoms.
Fakt Yoxla examined whether the claim was true.
It should be noted that these allegations are based on an interview with CBS News by Dr. Matt Hepburn, a military doctor working for the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
Speaking to Newsweek, Hepburn said his interview caused confusion.
According to him, the so-called technology is actually a hydrogel. This hydrogel can be altered to respond to a number of substances in the body. When it does, it glows very dimly and this light can then be detected using a sensor placed outside of the skin. The substance that the hydrogel uses to detect the virus is called lactate. The lactate levels in the blood can indicate whether a person is about to get ill.
The screenshot was taken from DARPA's Twitter account.
"It just tells you that there might be something wrong, and you would complement that with a specific COVID test, or test for other pathogens, so you could then make a pathogen-specific diagnosis of what's making you sick," Hepburn said.
The DARPA center denied on its official Twitter account that they had developed a COVID-detecting microchip.
Fakt Yoxla concludes that the news posted on the website of ANAS is Fake News.
