Teens think up clever condoms that would change colors to indicate STD exposure - The Washington Post
▻http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/06/24/teens-invent-clever-condoms-that-change-colors-to-indicate-std-expos
Just imagine it: You’re in the, um, moment and — like a sexually responsible person — you put on a condom. But at some point, it starts to glow and change colors on you — an indication that you’ve just come in contact with a sexually transmitted disease or sexually transmitted infection.
Naturally, it would take three teenage boys to think it up. Students from England’s Isaac Newton Academy have created a concept for a smart condom that would alter its luminescent hue when exposed to common STDs. There would be antibodies on the condom that would interact with the antigens of STDs, causing the condom to change colors depending on the disease.
For instance, if the condom were exposed to chlamydia, it might glow green — or yellow for herpes, purple for human papillomavirus and blue for syphilis.
Daanyaal Ali, 14, Muaz Nawaz, 13, and Chirag Shah, 14, call their concept the S.T. EYE. Get it? It won top honors Tuesday in the U.K.’s TeenTech Awards, an annual competition that aims to encourage students to “understand their true potential and the real opportunities available in the contemporary STEM workplace.” The students won about $1,500 and a trip to meet Prince Andrew at Buckingham Palace later this year.