A team of researchers from Japan’s Kyoto Prefectural University announced they have developed face masks that glow when the coronavirus is detected. The masks are made using ostrich antibodies and could provide a low-cost method of testing for the virus.
When the virus is present after people are infected, filters from the masks that are coated with ostrich antibodies will glow under the nose and mouth areas, the researchers said in a press release.
The masks were created by a team headed up by Kyoto Prefectural University President and Doctor of Veterinary Medicine Yasuhiro Tsukamoto, who spoke with Kyodo News recently about his work.
“We can mass-produce antibodies from ostriches at a low cost. In the future, I want to make this into an easy testing kit that anyone can use,” Tsukamoto told the news agency.
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The researchers conducted a study where test subjects who were infected with the coronavirus wore the masks for eight hours. Afterward, filters inside the masks were removed and sprayed with a chemical that glows when placed under ultraviolet light if coronavirus is detected. The masks worn by the subjects with COVID all glowed, according to the team.
The masks offer hope in detecting the virus in the many people who are infected but are asymptomatic. Since those people don’t experience symptoms of COVID-19, they are more likely to forgo testing and thus become carriers of the virus. The masks would show infected people who otherwise feel healthy that they have the virus.
The team next plans on trying to make masks that will glow without the assistance of special lights when the virus is present in the wearer.
Reuters reported that Tsukamoto “has studied ostriches for years, looking for ways to adapt their immunity power to fight bird flu, allergies, and other diseases.” In the past, he also made masks coated with ostrich cells that were designed to prevent the spread of swine flu, and he has studied the use of ostrich antibodies for the restoration of hair growth.
For the new masks, Tsukamoto’s team used inactive coronavirus particles that they injected into female ostriches in a single dose. Antibodies were then extracted from the birds’ eggs for the masks. Since ostrich eggs are much larger than those from chickens, more antibodies can be produced. Tsukamoto reportedly was able to get the antibodies he needed in half the time it would have taken had he used chickens.
Since the antibodies were extracted from unfertilized laid eggs that can’t hatch, Tsukamoto’s method could also be a more humane method than taking large amounts of blood from rodents or rabbits for antibodies.
Tsukamoto said he discovered he had the coronavirus after one of the masks he created glowed after being checked, according to Reuters. A standard test taken later confirmed he was positive for the virus, he said.
