Beware sneezing laptops

Let's all agree - computer virus's are a major bummer. Some alienated 13-year-old in a floor-length leather coat takes a break from playing 'Call of Duty' and sends you a nasty email saying 'Hi there!' or 'break down walls with you all-new supercock' and the next thing you know your harddrive evaporates into thin air. Your painstaking dissertation on the origins of the Cuban Revolution is lost forever. Gobbled up and never spat out by the ether.
But according to a scientist at the University of Reading (the same joint that encoraged H.Blumenthal to cook with liquid nitrogen) the next breed of computer viruses will be way worse.
According to the Financial Times, Dr Mark Gasson is the first human to be infected by a computer virus. And he didn't even get it from shagging a sickly baboon in the Central African Republic. No, Gasson only went and deliberately infected himself (in the name of science). Here's why:
Dr Gasson deliberately introduced a computer virus into an electronic chip that had been implanted into his left hand last year, in order to study its effects.
“We are moving towards these devices being small computers that are able to store information, communicate with other devices, and perform simple computations. But with these new abilities come new risks, such as being attacked by computer viruses,” Dr Gasson said.
“There are very serious implications for medical devices. Imagine if someone developed a virus that stopped a pacemaker working.”
The chip in Dr Gasson’s hand is a high-end radio frequency identification chip, a sophisticated version of the technology used in shop security tags and for identifying pets. The device, the size of the grain of rice, allowed him secure access to University buildings and his mobile phone.
Once infected with the virus, the microchip contaminated the system that was used to communicate with it and tried to spread to other chips in contact with the system.
Dr Gasson said that the experiment had offered a “glimpse at the problems of tomorrow”.

Whatever next - emails that punch you in the nose? Adobe attachments that make you break out in spots? Anyone else a little concerned about the future?