Full steam ahead for dye to track drug

Due to the speed and colour of the dye which checks levels of the anti-blood clotting drug heparin in the blood, experts from York University have named it Mallard Blue after the locomotive which holds the world speed record for a steam engine and is now preserved at the National Railway Museum in the city.

Prof Dave Smith, from York’s chemistry department, who led the research, said: “Our dye is the same colour as the locomotive and we believe it is similarly ground-breaking in its performance.”

The next stage of the work will involve incorporating the dye in a new device for simple bedside read-outs of levels of heparin.

The drug is an important anti-coagulant treatment which has a significant role for patients undergoing in surgery.