Dasia Taylor: The Schoolgirl Making Wounds Speak
Every year, millions of people around the world develop infections after surgery. In poorer countries, around one in ten surgical patients will suffer a surgical site infection.
Dasia Taylor was only seventeen when she began wondering whether there might be a simpler way to spot an infection before it became dangerous.
Existing technology could already detect infections. Its problem was cost. The systems relied on electronic sensors and specialised equipment, making them inaccessible to many of the hospitals that needed them most. Taylor became convinced there must be a simpler solution.
The inspiration came from a simple scientific fact. When a wound becomes infected, its acidity changes. The pH level rises. If a material could respond to that change, it might provide an early warning that anyone could understand.
Working on a science fair project, Taylor experimented with different threads and dyes. Eventually she found an answer in an unlikely place: beetroot.
The natural pigment in beet juice changes colour as acidity changes. By coating surgical sutures with a beet-derived dye, Taylor created stitches that remain bright red in a healthy wound but turn purple as an infection develops.
As a black woman, Taylor was also motivated by another problem. Research has shown that signs of infection, such as redness, are harder to detect on darker skin tones. A colour-changing suture works regardless of a patient’s skin colour.
The idea is simple. No batteries. No sensors. No smartphone. Just a stitch that changes colour.
For her invention, Taylor became a finalist in the prestigious Regeneron Science Talent Search and later founded her company, Variegate Health, to bring the technology to market.
Most of us will need stitches at some point in our lives. One day, those stitches may tell us when something is wrong. That idea began with a seventeen-year-old schoolgirl called Dasia Taylor.
Further reading
The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right by Atul Gawande