Three British students from the Isaac Newton Academy recently proposed the concept for a condom that can detect when it comes in contact with an STI. The three teens, Daanyaal Ali and Chirag Shah, 14 and Muaz Nawaz, 13, put forth their project ‘S.T.Eye’ to the TeenTech awards and placed first on Tuesday last, the 23rd of June. The idea is that the condom would change colour when it comes in contact with an STI, as articulated here by the Washington Post:

“There would be antibodies on the condom that would interact with the antigens of STDs, causing the condom to change colours depending on the disease…For instance, if the condom were exposed to chlamydia, it might glow green — or yellow for herpes, purple for human papilloma virus and blue for syphilis.”

Everybody involved is aware that there is aspects of this project that are just ideas and some parts of it may remain as just ideas, however it would appear that the judges saw just how much research went into the project and how much promise the boys showed at such a young age. For their efforts they have won $1,500 and a chance to meet Prince Andrew at Buckingham Palace.

There are still a number of issues to work out such as what happen when multiple STIs are present, will it change colour if the wearer has an STI or both, and if so how would you tell who has what. It could be a few years before these condoms make it to the shelves, however it is still a fantastic idea and we wish the young lads all the best with it in the future. They have already been approached by a number of condom companies.