Scientists at the Pentagon's secretive unit are researching viruses and developing pandemic cures
They work at Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and other Pentagon laboratories
DARPA's teams saw COVID-19 infected 1,271 onboard USS Theodore Roosevelt as the virus spread unchecked
In response they have developed a microchip to detect asymptomatic COVID in a bid to prevent an outbreak
The chip is inserted below skin and triggers a sensor if COVID infects the body
DARPA have also created a filter which can remove COVID virus from the blood when attached to dialysis
They are working on a vaccine that would work against all coronaviruses, even ones not yet identified
The team also successfully manufactured antibodies against Spanish Flu
Pentagon scientists working inside a secretive unit set up at the height of the Cold War have created a microchip to be inserted under the skin, which will detect COVID-19 infection, and a revolutionary filter that can remove the virus from the blood when attached to a dialysis machine.
The team at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) have been working for years on preventing and ending pandemics.
They assess the issues and come up with ingenious solutions, which at times appear more from a science fiction novel than a working laboratory.
One of their recent inventions, they told 60 Minutes on Sunday night, was a microchip which detects COVID infection in an individual before it can become an outbreak.
The microchip is sure to spark worries among some about a government agency implanting a microchip in a citizen.
Officials who spoke to the 60 Minutes team said the Pentagon isn't looking to track your every move.
A more detailed explanation was not given.
Retired Colonel Matt Hepburn, an army infectious disease physician leading DARPA's response to the pandemic, showed the 60 Minutes team a tissue-like gel, engineered to continuously test your blood.
The green gel, seen in a lab, contains a microchip which senses when the body is infectedThe microchip idea came after the USS Theodore Roosevelt (pictured) saw 1,271 infections
'You put it underneath your skin and what that tells you is that there are chemical reactions going on inside the body, and that signal means you are going to have symptoms tomorrow,' he explained.
He said they were inspired by the struggle to stem the virus' spread onboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt, where 1,271 crew members tested positive for the coronavirus.
'It's like a "check engine" light,' said Hepburn.
'Sailors would get the signal, then self-administer a blood draw and test themselves on site.
'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.'
Troops are likely to be highly skeptical of the new invention.
In February, The New York Times reported that a third of troops have refused to take the vaccine, sighting concerns that the vaccine contains a microchip devised to monitor recipients, that it will permanently disable the body’s immune system or that it is some form of government control.
The DARPA headquarters are pictured in Arlington, VirginiaHepburn shows off a filter attached to a dialysis machine and removes the virus from blood
Another invention of Hepburn's team is a filter, which is placed on a dialysis machine and removes the virus from the blood.
The experimental four-day treatment was given to "Patient 16", a military spouse, who was in the ICU with organ failure and septic shock.
'You pass it through, and it takes the virus out, and puts the blood back in,' said Hepburn.
Within days, Patient 16 made a full recovery.
The FDA has authorized the filter for emergency use, and it has been used to treat nearly 300 critically ill patients.
Another Pentagon agency, the Joint Pathology Institute, studies tissue samples from soldiers and sailors infected with pathogens all over the world.
Scientists have tissue samples from people who were infected with the Spanish FluThe Spanish Flu killed 50 million people from 1918-20
They have in their laboratories tissue from patients infected with the Spanish Flu 100 years ago, and in 2005 a team from Mount Sinai hospital and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) managed to recreate the virus.
They also found survivors, and have manufactured antibodies to the lethal virus.
A member of the team, Dr James Crowe, has found a way to find antibodies in a vial of blood in record time - reducing the time frame from the usual six to 24 months down to 78 days.
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