A team of researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara, has developed the first real-time sensor for detecting cocaine.

The two local high school students and Nobel laureate who made this happen used inexpensive and off-the-shelf electronics.

The potential applications of the sensor are far-reaching and include bioterrorism detection and important medical uses.

"We have developed a method of detecting small molecules and proteins in a way that is not specific to cocaine, a whole class of biosensors can be based on this concept. It can be applied to the prevention of bioterrorism. It is beautiful work; the sensor is fully portable," co-author and Nobel laureate Alan Heeger said.

Currently detecting cocaine (and other illegal and legal drugs) in bodily fluids must be done by a laboratory with large and expensive equipment. The process takes from hours to days to get a result.

The potential medical implications of the sensor for detection of prescription drugs may be profound. A drug like cyclosporin, an immunosuppressant that has revolutionized the field of organ transplants, must be carefully monitored in a patient's blood to regulate the dosage. The test to check the ratio of a therapeutic dose versus a lethal dose is a process that takes six hours. With the new sensor, the blood level of the drug could be immediately detected and deaths could be prevented. Another drug requiring this type of careful regulation is a family of antibiotics known as aminoglycosides.

Currently the cocaine sensor is widely used by police is the Scott test. When a chemical is added to the white powder it changes color. But there are many ways around this test and some cocaine manufacturers add a chemical to block the color change.