Now, an affordable sensor to check for antibiotics presence in milk, water

Antibiotic-laced food products like milk make bacteria resistant to the drugs that are meant to kill them

Ever wondered what the level of antibiotics in your food or water is? Even if the question crosses one's mind, it's not easy to measure it. But an affordable sensor developed by IIT-B promises to check the level of the antimicrobial substance in our eatables without the help of an expert.

Antibiotics are widely used to treat bacterial infections in humans and animals. They are even used in household items such as floor cleaners and soaps. They enter the environment from these sources and contaminate our food and water, giving a chance to the bacteria to become resistant to the medicines that are meant to kill them. It means that the drugs we could use to treat a particular disease may no longer be effective.

A group of scientists, led by Prof. Soumyo Mukherji, in the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B) and Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal, have developed a sensor to find out whether a sample contains certain kinds of antibiotics, identified as beta-lactam antibiotics. They published a study about this in the journal, Analytical Chemistry. The study says the sensor is easy to use, affordable and reliable compared to other methods available to check the presence of beta-lactam antibiotics in water, milk, meat and other materials consumed by humans. When manufactured on a mass scale, it could cost less than Rs 30-Rs 35. The conventional techniques in use today cost over Rs 3,000.

"Penicillin and similar antibiotics like cephalosporin are called beta-lactam antibiotics. They derive their name from the presence of a ring containing nitrogen in their molecular structure. The antibiotics can kill a wide variety of microorganisms, making them a popular drug of choice not only for the treatment of minor infection but also as an ingredient in various household products such as floor cleaners and soaps and food products such as milk and poultry. The beta-lactam ring works by targeting the cell wall of the bacteria, thereby destroying the bacteria. The microorganisms resistant to the antibiotics evade destruction by secreting an enzyme called beta-lactamase that breaks the beta-lactam ring, thus rendering the antibiotic useless," explained Prof. Mukherjee's report.

Moreover, each sensor can be used twice, which further reduces the testing cost. The researchers have applied for a patent for the sensor and are awaiting approval.

Rs 30-Rs 35
Likely cost of the sensor