Israeli Scientists Develop Date-Rape Drug Detector
Image by iStock
Israeli researchers look poised to make nightclubs safer. They have developed a sensor that detects date rape drugs in drinks.
Fernando Patolsky and Michael Ioffe of the School of Chemistry at Tel Aviv University have developed a sensor that detects changes to optical signals caused by drugs such as GHB.
In a summary of the research sent to journalists the university claims 100% accuracy for the test. The researchers were aided in their research by bartenders, who mixed popular cocktails of 15 types. Blind testing was then carried out: 50 glasses in total (distributed across the 15 varieties of drink) were randomly spiked with date rape drugs, with the researchers unaware of which glasses contained the drugs. In the experiment, the system detected the drugs in all drinks.
The researchers have patented all elements of the system. They now hope to miniaturize the system for mass production and produce a device no larger than the head of a pin, making it possible for clubbers to check their drinks without their dates noticing.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news. All donations are still being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000 until April 24.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
