Researchers have created special filters (using antibodies derived from ostrich eggs) that fluoresce under ultraviolet light when the virus is present.
Researchers from the University of Kyoto, Japan, have developed a new model of mask that glows in the dark when it comes into contact with the coronavirus thanks to a removable filter that contains neutralizing antibodies to Covid-19 derived from ostrich eggs.
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How does it work
But what do ostrich eggs have to do with Covid? These animals have the ability to produce many types of antibodies that can neutralize pathogens within an organism. The researchers, led by Yasuhiro Tsukamoto, professor of veterinary medicine and rector of the University, last February have inactivated virus injected (and not dangerous) of Sars-CoV-2 in female ostriches. Once the birds laid their eggs, the scientists extracted the antibodies from there. The team then created a filter to be inserted inside a normal mask containing antibodies derived from ostrich eggs. The filters, once removed and sprayed with a particular chemical, glow under the ultraviolet light, if the virus is present.
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New tests
For now, the tests have been limited and only 32 people infected with Covid have been involved for ten days: all their masks after eight hours of use placed under ultraviolet light sparkled in the areas around the nose and mouth and the luminescence decreased with the time goes by, hand in hand with the decrease in viral load. The researchers’ goal is to extend research on another 150 volunteers to bolster the data.
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Automatic lighting: an aid to contain the virus
Tsukamoto himself noticed a glow on the mask while he was testing it: after taking the swab he discovered that be positive proving the effectiveness of his invention on his skin. We can mass-produce antibodies from ostriches at low cost. In the future, we want to turn our research into a simple test kit that anyone can use. The team hopes to be able to develop the masks so that light up automatically in the presence of the virus, without the need for ultraviolet lights. Scientists hope to get government approval by 2022 to start selling the masks. The idea is that anyone wearing the mask realizes independently that they can be infected with the coronavirus, thus putting in place all precautions immediately, waiting for the result of the swab, to contain the spread of the virus as much as possible.
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December 13, 2021 (change December 13, 2021 | 11:45 am)
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