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– A 17-year-old high school student and finalist in a national science competition has come up with an impressive invention that she hopes can save lives, especially in developing countries. Dasia Taylor of Iowa City, Iowa, had read about ‘smart’ sutures covered with a conductive material that can transmit changes to a wound to smartphones and computers, reports SmithsonianThe problem, as Dasia saw it, was that those expensive sutures probably weren’t accessible to people in low- and middle-income countries, where post-operative wound infections are typically more common and more deadly, according to the Washington PostWhen her chemistry teacher spoke about a state-wide science fair in October 2019, Dasia set to work creating her own sutures that would record changes in pH levels without electronics. The key: beets.
Human skin has a pH of around 5, but this increases to 9 with an infection. As Dasia discovered, beet juice is bright red at a pH of 5, but turns dark purple at a pH of 9. That meant that a suture containing beet juice dye had to change color upon the appearance of an infection. Tests with a cotton-polyester-yarn blend proved Dasia’s theory. In five minutes under pH 9 the sutures turned dark purple. After three days they faded to light gray. Dasia not only dominated the national competition, but was also named one of the 40 national finalists in the prestigious Regeneron Science Talent Search, according to the PostMore research is needed to translate the idea into practical use. Standard sutures, for example, don’t absorb to keep bacteria out. But Dasia is not deterred and plans to patent her invention. (Read more stories about inventions.)