British Students Invent Condom That Changes Colour If It Detects STI
A group of teenagers from London just invented a condom that glows when it detects an STI.
The S.T.EYE condom is the brainchild of students Muaz Nawaz (13), Daanyaal Ali (14), and Chirag Shah (14), from London’s Isaac Newton Academy.
They came up with the idea, which won top prize at the TeenTech Awards, as a way to combat soaring rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
The condom uses a built-in layer of molecules that glow when they come into contact with bacteria and viruses associated with the most common STIs.
And they glow a different colour depending on the infection detected – green for chlamydia, yellow for herpes, purple in the presence of the virus which causes genital warts, and blue for syphilis.
As Daanyaal, one of the 14-year-old designers, explains: ‘We wanted to create something that makes detecting harmful STIs safer than ever before, so that people can take immediate action in the privacy of their own homes without the invasive procedures at the doctors.’
He added: ‘We’ve made sure we’re able to give peace of mind to users and make sure people can be more responsible than ever before.’