Analysis. What do you get when you combine the U.S. Department of Defense’s most advanced technology branch — known as DARPA — with a new program run by the NIH (National Institutes of Health), to transform health care by means of high-risk, accelerated research? You get ARPA-H (Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health): the government’s latest venture within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

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President Biden proposed creation of this agency in order to “improve the government’s ability to speed biomedical and health research.” On March 15, 2022, Public Law 117-103 was enacted, and the agency was established.

This health agency is to be modeled after DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) because it “embraces a nimble, flexible research strategy that accepts failure.” Essentially, because the research would be a high-risk proposition, these failures are all part of a process that will eventually lead to rewards. The overall mission of ARPA-H is “to make pivotal investments in breakthrough technologies and broadly applicable platforms, capabilities, resources and solutions that have the potential to transform important areas of medicine and health for the benefit of all patients and that cannot be readily accomplished through traditional research and commercial activity.”

DARPA was established in 1958 in response to the launch of the world’s first satellite, Sputnik 1. With the satellite, the Soviets made their mark on space and technology that year, and the U.S. vowed to gain the competitive edge. Since then, DARPA has played a key role in developing such technology as the internet, GPS systems, self-driving cars, and mRNA vaccines.

In comparison, ARPA–H has been launched to gain an edge in the health industry by “supporting high-risk exploration that could establish entirely new paradigms.” Billions of dollars would be given to the NIH to focus on programs that tackle diseases such as Alzheimer’s, cancer, and diabetes. A report notes that, “the Administration has provided a list of potential ARPA-H projects, including the development of accurate, wearable, blood pressure technology, the preparation of mRNA vaccines against common forms of cancer; drug or gene therapy delivery systems that can target any organ, tissue or cell type; and platforms to reduce health disparities in maternal morbidity and mortality, among others.”

The idea to create ARPA-H goes back to 2017, when The Suzanne Wright Foundation proposed a plan for designing HARPA, which would focus on curing pancreatic cancer and other diseases, as well as using behavioral indicators to diagnose mental disorders. This proposal was eventually adopted by the Biden administration and became the model for establishing ARPA-H. Among its biggest champions are former NIH Director Francis Collins and NIAID Director Anthony Fauci. Some HARPA programs would rely on large quantities of private data from “Apple watches, Fitbits, Amazon Echo, Google Home and other consumer electronic devices, and data collected by health-care providers like MRIs, tractography and image analysis to identify neurobehavioral signs of someone headed toward a violent explosive act.” Harvested data would be analyzed by artificial intelligence algorithms for early diagnosis of neuropsychiatric violence, or the likelihood of someone committing future crimes. Though HARPA has formally become ARPA-H, the overall goals are very similar.

While there are many details that have yet to be decided on, this program that could fuse national security with the health industry is raising red flags. When Biden first proposed creating ARPA-H, investigative journalist Whitney Webb warned that if this agency were to be established, it could be used to “resurrect dangerous and long-standing agendas of the national-security state and its Silicon Valley contractors, creating a digital dictatorship that threatens human freedom, human society, and potentially the very definition of what it means to be human.”

Webb’s article titled, This Biden Proposal Could Make the US a Digital Dictatorship, posted in May 2021, almost a year before ARPA-H was officially created, makes valid points worthy of consideration for anyone who values personal and medical freedom.

Though Biden claims that one of the goals of ARPA-H programs is to end cancer, Webb asserts that the agency could use both physical and mental health “warning signs” to prevent outbreaks of disease or violence before they occur. “Such a system is a recipe for a technocratic ‘pre-crime’ organization with the potential to criminalize both mental and physical illness as well as ‘wrongthink,’ ” she says.

Webb also warns that ARPA-H would take on projects that are not peer-reviewed prior to approval. Instead, they would be handled by hand-picked program managers who would make all funding decisions. Additionally, it’s probable that mRNA vaccines used to treat cancer would be heavily funded and promoted. Some of the same companies that produced COVID vaccines will be working on these projects. Pfizer/BioNTech executives and representatives have stated that the same mRNA technology used to attack the coronavirus is being used to train the body to kill cancer tumors, as well as to combat the flu, tuberculosis and HIV. Much of this is being done in collaboration with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, whose goal is to vaccinate the world.

ARPA-H programs would get a boost from Silicon Valley companies that can harvest data and information — Amazon, Google, and Microsoft among them. Amazon launched a wearable in 2020 known as Halo that can track not only your physical health, but your emotional state as well. Google became deeply involved in the health care industry during the COVID pandemic by collecting contact-tracing data, analyzing online behavior, and promoting vaccination compliance. Also in 2020, Google teamed up with the Department of Defense for a project called “Predictive Health,” which would use artificial intelligence to detect early signs of cancer. But the program can be applied to other diseases as well to predict symptoms before they appear.

One of the potential target projects of ARPA-H is wearables, as they are a popular and efficient way to gather health information. Currently, the military is exploring biometric wearables that can detect illnesses up to 48 hours before soldiers feel any symptoms. In 2021, Air Force pilots began using the Oura ring to track their temperature, heart rate, exercise efficiency, sleep patterns and more. During the 2020 season, the NBA utilized this same technology to try and predict COVID outbreaks. Harpreet Rai, CEO of Oura, has stated that in the future, wearables will help people prevent, not react to illness. This technology isn’t new, and DARPA has been exploring it for some time. One such program, called Prometheus, “seeks to discover a minimal set of molecular biomarkers that would indicate, less than 24 hours after exposure to a pathogen, whether an individual will become contagious.”

Digging deeper into wearables and biometrics, Profusa, one of DARPA’s parent companies, has already developed a sensor designed to pick the body’s response to illnesses like the flu and COVID-19 before the presence of any such symptoms as coughing. An article in Defense One describes the Lumee sensor system this way: “The sensor has two parts. One is a 3mm string of hydrogel, a material whose network of polymer chains is used in some contact lenses and other implants. Inserted under the skin with a syringe, the string includes a specially engineered molecule that sends a fluorescent signal outside of the body when the body starts to fight an infection. The other part is an electronic component attached to the skin. It sends light through the skin, detects the fluorescent signal and generates another signal that the wearer can send to a doctor, website, etc.” This sensor, also known as the Lumee Oxygen Platform, is now being used as an investigational device in EU countries, where it will help to monitor oxygen levels in compromised tissues and limbs, as well as to detect peripheral artery disease.

Interestingly enough, nanotechnology can be easily incorporated into “smart” hydrogels  that are conductive, allowing for the transmission of electrical signals in the body. An article published in the NIH Library of Medicine says that “smart hydrogels that drastically change their volume in response to environmental stimuli such as temperature, pH and chemical signals are attractive materials for drug delivery. Such responsiveness can be coupled with additional cues such as light and magnetic field via nanoparticles embedded within the matrix, creating NP-gels capable of remotely controlling drug release.” Thus, the possibilities for this technology are endless.

To some, the idea of predicting illnesses or psychiatric issues, as well as the prospect of remote drug delivery, is a step in the right direction. But where is that direction leading? Is it careening toward a medical technocracy where human bodies are surveilled and controlled by the government? Furthermore, how long would it take to weaponize biometric data in order to secure peace and safety for the masses?

The World Economic Forum believes predictive screening and monitoring is a great idea and they are praising India for integrating diagnostic algorithms for disease screening ranging from cancer to cardiovascular disease. The WEF cites the 2030 Sustainable Goal of “leaving no one behind” when it comes to making sure everyone has access to this type of healthcare.

The list of possible ARPA-H projects is long and could involve not only vaccines and wearables, but also medications. In a White House document titled ARPA-H Frequently Asked Questions it notes that one example of transformative progress that ARPA-H can drive is the use of “platforms to promote better health outcomes through substantially improving how medication is taken, as recommended, on a regular basis or over a standard course by engaging community health workers aided by privacy-preserving smart devices and telehealth.” In 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first drug in the U.S. with a digital tracking system. Known as Abilify MyCite, these tablets have an ingestible sensor embedded in them that records if the medication was taken. A message is sent to a wearable patch and then transmitted to a mobile application.

The scope of ARPA-H wouldn’t just include diseases and medical interventions, but also psychiatric bio-surveillance. In September 2022, the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force recommended that all U.S. adults aged 65 and younger should be screened for mental health issues such as anxiety. The original intent of HARPA (the predecessor to ARPA-H) was to “monitor Americans for neuropsychiatric warning signs by harvesting private data from consumer electronic devices and heath care providers.”

So far there are many states vying for the chance to house the headquarters for the ARPA-H program. California, Georgia, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas have set their sights on being part of this venture which seeks to transform healthcare. Several states such as Massachusetts and Pennsylvania have direct connections to pharmaceutical companies and institutions that specialize in cell and gene therapy.

Biden’s Sept. 12, 2022, executive order on Advancing Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Innovation for a Sustainable, Safe and Secure Bioeconomy seems to be just one more piece of the puzzle that began with the creation of ARPH-A just six months prior. Like ARPA-H, which will accelerate the development of biomedical products, the Executive Order specifies speeding up the process of launching “innovative technologies” so they can reach markets faster. ARPA-H seeks to engage in high-risk research that will involve genetic therapies and artificial intelligence, while the Executive Order states that one major goal is “to be able to write circuitry for cells and predictably program biology in the same way in which we write software and program computers.”

Taking in the whole picture, one must consider that while these innovations promise more breakthroughs and cures, they come with a heavy price tag. The illusion of “safety” is wrapped up in a package with a bright red bow, but the price to be paid is freedom, privacy and bodily autonomy.

When it comes to our health, we must remember that God has every hair on our head numbered, and He knows how every cell in our body is functioning. Rather than allowing sensors and technology to regulate what’s happening inside us, we should let the Holy Spirit be our internal monitor. The God who created us is more than capable of guiding and healing us in ways that will not make us a slave to man’s latest inventions.

Let’s pray:

Lord Jesus, we are in the middle of a technology firestorm that shows no signs of dying down. Pull us out of the flames and into Your arms, where we will find shelter from the heat. Let us be wise when it comes to deciding who and what can monitor our health. Help us to be part of the solution, and not to add to the problem. 

What do you think about the creation of ARPA-H? How can we avoid becoming entangled in this technological web?  

Angela Rodriguez is an author, blogger and homeschooling mom who studies the historical and biblical connections between Israel and the U.S. Visit her blogs at 67owls.com and 100trumpets.com. Her latest book, Psalm 91: Under the Wings of Jesus, was released in June 2021. Photo credit: Getty Images.