According to some recent studies, sexual assaults with chemical submission of the victims now account for 20.9% of cases. The main drug used in these violations is alcohol, although the aggressors also use other psychotropic substances, such as scopolamine (SCP), better known as burundanga, which is very difficult to detect because its traces disappear very quickly in the body. .
A team from the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV) and the Center for Biomedical Research in the Bioengineering, Biomaterials and Nanomedicine Network (CIBERBBN) of Spain, in collaboration with the BAM Institute of Berlin in Germany, has developed a new test that allows detecting quickly, easily and cheaply the presence of “burundanga” and “cannibal drug”, both in a saliva sample and if the drug is diluted in any drink.
The new test makes it possible to quickly detect the drug, “in just fifteen minutes” according to the research team that developed it.
To make this test possible, they have designed a test strip on which a nanosensor based on nanoparticles loaded with a fluorescent indicator (rhodamine B) is deposited and functionalized with a molecular gate that responds specifically in the presence of the drug. For its reading, something as everyday as a mobile phone is used.
“With a mobile phone and in less than a quarter of an hour we will be able to find out if there has been an attempted sexual assault by chemical submission with this drug. To do this, it will suffice to take a small sample of saliva or drink and submerge the strip; if there is drug, the fluorescence level will increase rapidly, due to the release of the dye from the deposited nanosensor. Once the 15 minutes have elapsed, a photo is taken with the mobile phone where, by comparing it with a sample that does not contain the narcotic, the presence of burundanga can be verified,” explains Eva María Garrido García, from the UPV and member of the research team. Investigation and development.
Scopolamine, better known as burundanga. (Photo: UPV)
Cannibal drug and other substances
In addition to detecting burundanga, the test developed by the UPV, CIBERBBN and BAM team enables the detection of MDPV (methylenedioxypyrovalerone), the so-called “cannibal drug. “You can simultaneously detect both drugs using the same saliva or drink sample. And it could be extended to other substances.
“The psychoactive substance most commonly associated with chemically submissive sexual assaults is alcohol, but there are drugs in circulation that can incapacitate the victim. Among them is the cannibal drug, but also ketamine, GHB or flunitrazepam. Our system, thanks to its versatility, can also be adapted for the detection of these and other substances in liquid samples. And what is most important, in any of the cases, it can be used by anyone, without the need for expert knowledge”, highlights Ramón Martínez Máñez, from the research and development team.
The research and development team validated this new kind of test in different trials.
Garrido and his colleagues present the technical details of their test in the academic journal Nanoscale, under the title “Dualplex lateral flow assay for simultaneous scopolamine and “cannibal drug” detection based on receptor-gated mesoporous nanoparticles”. (Source: UPV)