Coming soon: Tattoos for all?
UW-WC IT Manager
In January, Somark Innovations of St. Louis announced a successful product that can inject a non-toxic, reflective ink into cattle and rats. The reflective ink then acts as a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag that can be read up to four feet away.
You may have heard of RFID tags already. These are small devices that can be attached to or integrated into a product, person or animal. The tag is filled with information and relays that information to a receiver. It is similar to a magnetic strip on a credit card. Until the Somark announcement the smallest RFID tags were about the size of a grain of rice. To tag an animal or human with this rice sized tag required an incision. Somark's ink can be injected quickly and even read through fur and hair. The cost is half that of a traditional RFID tag.
Somark's main market is the livestock industry with secondary target markets including "laboratory animals, dogs & cats, prime cuts of meat, and military personnel" (Somark press release). The idea is that the RFID "tattoo" will assist in tracking and identifying cattle and help the cattle industry with Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), commonly referred to as mad-cow disease. The ink has been biocompatibly tested and is safe for humans to eat.
As you can imagine, the response to the announcement has varied from "sweet!" to "the apocalypse is upon us!" Proponents of using the technology posit the tattoo will be an invaluable resource while detractors caution a slippery slope to everyone being tattooed. One thing is for sure, if the technology is as safe as Somark claims it is, it is here to stay.
