A caffeine detection test developed by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis someday will help coffee drinkers like Lillian Jaroslow and her neighbors rest easy.
Jaroslow lives at Leisure World retirement community in Mesa.
"If you're at an event here and there's coffee, you hear everybody ask the same question: 'Is it decaf?' " she says. "And here, it's never anything but decaf." ...
Camels, llamas and other members of the camelid family make antibodies capable of reacting to caffeine even in hot beverages, says Dan Crimmins, a senior scientist who was part of the research team.
The animals were injected with a caffeine-linked protein equivalent to less than the amount in one cup of coffee, he says. The antibodies they produced in an immune response to the injections were tested and survived temperatures up to 194 degrees Fahrenheit.
Coffee connoisseurs consider 175 degrees the optimum temperature for their beverage of choice, a temperature that's hot enough to scald.
The researchers' findings mean the caffeine test could give accurate yes-or-no readings in beverages from icy colas to steaming coffee or tea.
"But you won't need to hitch up a camel or llama outside your favorite coffee shop to determine whether or not your drink is caffeine-free," Crimmins says.
A development company will guide production and marketing of a portable, point-of-consumption testing device on a timetable yet to be determined.
Crimmins envisions something like the pH paper used in chemistry classes or the "dipstick" in pregnancy tests. Exposed to a beverage with caffeine, the paper or dipstick would change color.
"Your beverage won't taste like camels or llamas," he says, "but that psychological hurdle will have to be overcome. You don't want to stick something in your drink that might make you feel uncomfortable."
Although the camelid antibodies are purified and cloned in a lab using molecular biology techniques, testing for caffeine with a spoon or an eyedropper might be more acceptable to consumers, he says.
The Washington University antibodies lab is best known for developing two widely used tests for diagnosing heart attacks. Its caffeine test won't have as big an impact on people's lives, Crimmins says, but it will be a welcome one.
"When it's 3 o'clock at night and you're still awake," he says, "you can't help wondering if you really got the decaf you ordered."
| • | Camel antibodies aid caffeine test
The Arizona Republic online, Thursday, July 6, 2006 Byline: Connie Midey, The Arizona Republic |
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