York Guides

Yorkshire research scientist Dr Deborah Rathbone is developing a portable sensor device that can identify and trace tiny particles of heroin and cocaine by "hoovering" the air around a suspect.

The detector will be much more sensitive than sniffer dogs, and since it is portable it could be used to catch drug smugglers at any border.

Ms Rathbone, a research scientist in the biology department at the University of York, believes her work will revolutionise the war on drugs. She's the latest Bioscience Yorkshire Enterprise Fellow (BYEF), a project that is turning academics into entrepreneurs.

She said: "Heroin, cocaine and crack cocaine are now considered to be the most powerfully addictive drugs Western society has ever had to confront. According to the 2002 UK Drug Seizure and Offender Statistics, the number of seizures of Class A drugs tripled over the previous 10 years, with heroin and cocaine accounting for around 50 per cent and 20 per cent of seizures of Class A drugs respectively.

"It was hoped that the ban on poppy growing in Afghanistan, the main supplier of illicit heroin to the UK, which began in July 2000, and the military action against terrorist groups in that country would have significantly cut the supply of the drug.

"The reality is that stockpiles of heroin remained from the bumper crops of 1998 and 1999 and, far from there being a reduction in the cultivation of the opium poppy, it now extends to every district in Afghanistan. The recent news that Afghanistan was on the brink of becoming a "narcotic state" raises concerns even higher.

"The UK market for cocaine is also growing and is now thought to be in the region of several billion pounds annually at street level. There has never been a more urgent need for the development of a reliable, portable drugs detection system."

Ms Rathbone gained a degree in microbiology at the University of Wales, College of Cardiff, and went on to take a PhD in microbial genetics at the University of Birmingham. In 1992, she joined a group led by Neil Bruce at the University of Cambridge developing the heroin side of the heroin and cocaine biosensor project, which was initially funded by Customs and Excise.

The group – including Ms Rathbone – moved to York in 2002 when Mr Bruce took a research chair there. Ms Rathbone believes the sensor is now close to becoming commercially viable.
Apart from "hoovering" people, Ms Rathbone said the device could be used on cars at roadside checkpoints, suitcases at airports and container lorries.

Under the Yorkshire Forward-backed scheme, the fellows have a year to turn their science into a company. As part of the deal, they receive financial support of £30,000, made up of a £15,000 research grant and a £15,000 business grant, plus an optional interest free loan of £10,000.
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