New Condom Changes Colors When in Contact With STI

A group of UK schoolchildren revolutionized safe sex when they created a new condom that changes color when it comes into contact with a sexually transmitted infection.

The UK Independent reports that the S.T.EYE condom has a built-in indicator to detect the presence of infections like chlamydia and syphilis, turning a different color depending on the bacteria present.

The condom is the handiwork of Daanyaal Ali, 14, Muaz Nawaz, 13 and Chirag Shah, 14, pupils at Isaac Newton Academy in Ilford, Essex, who wanted to "make detecting harmful STIs safer than ever before" without the need for invasive tests.

"We created the S.T.EYE as a new way for STI detection to help the future of the next generation," said Ali. "We wanted to make 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. We've made sure we're able to give peace of mind to users and make sure people can be even more responsible than ever before."

The group will receive �1,000 and a trip to Buckingham Palace from the TeenTech awards, aimed at up-and-coming inventors.

"We encourage students to take their ideas out of the classroom by putting them face-to-face with industry professionals, helping to open their eyes to the real potential of their ideas," said former Tomorrow's World presenter Maggie Philbin, founder and chief executive of TeenTech.

The BBC reports that the boys have already been contacted by a condom company interested in working with them to bring the concept to market.

"We took inspiration from an HIV testing method [called ELISA] which utilizes color-changing," said the boys. The students said the color change would work on both sides of the condom, with different colors for different STIs: green for chlamydia, purple for genital warts, blue for syphilis and yellow for herpes.

They said they were initially inspired by a Reddit post called 20 Things that Should Be Invented, which included a color-changing condom, and thought to have the color reflect a reaction to an STI.

Dr. Mark Lawton, a consultant in sexual health and HIV at the Royal Liverpool Hospital, said that the technology for color change in the presence of an antigen is certainly something that does happen -- the home test for HIV relies on a color change detecting antibodies for HIV.

"It does normally require some additional chemicals in that process and [with a condom] you'd obviously need to make sure that those chemicals weren't going to be harmful or toxic or in any way cause irritation," said Lawton. "It's possible, [but] I'm not sure we have what we need at the moment."