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According to an article written by Theresa Machemer in Smithsonian Magazine, Dasia Taylor is a young scientist, inventor and defender of the rights of black people, who at the age of 15, in 2019, invented surgical sutures that change color, allowing us to know whether a patient’s wound gets infected.

The inventor’s scientific experiment can be used in the early detection and prevention of infections in surgical sites and is a significant advance in the medical sciences. Her discovery of beet juice as a source of dye, has created more affordable and accessible medical device technology for people from low-income communities and developing countries.

Dasia is also a great advocate for racial equality, claiming that even in the face of flagrant discrimination based on the color of someone’s skin, and ruthless detractors, with hard work and self-confidence one can achieve any goal. Following this train of thought, Dasia argues that anyone can play a part in helping improve society by for example making it easier for those with limited access to basic needs.

Dasia's life

Early life

Dasia Taylor, born on April 6, 2004, is originally from LaDonna Phillips, Chicago, Illinois. However, when she was only eight years old, she and her family moved to Madison, Indiana, and then to Iowa City, Iowa. There, she attended Creek Southeastern Junior High and graduated from Iowa City West High School in Iowa City in 2021.  

Taylor is best known for her color-changing sutures experiment, which she developed when she was only 15 years old, in order to complete a project she started in October 2019.

Ironically, while Taylor was busy making life-saving discoveries, she suffered blatant racism. To challenge those who doubted her abilities, the 16-year-old girl put in four months of dedicated and focused research in preparation for her first regional science and math fair in 2020.

All the information written above was retrieved from the African-American History section of the Blackpast webpage, from an article written by Otis Alexander.

Current studies

According to news reporter for the Daily Iowan, Marandah Mangra-Dutcher, the 18-year-old, now a promising first-year student of political science in the University of Iowa, graduated from Iowa City West High School in 2021, where she would start developing her world-changing medical invention.

Taylor is currently working on improving her discovery while she perseveres in her studies. She has also made notice of her plans of attending law school after she finishes her undergraduate degree, although she has yet to decide which type of law she will want to practice in the future.

Academic accomplishments

In Theresa Machemer, correspondent for the Smithsonian Magazine´s words, the former student at Iowa City West High School, began working on the project in October 2019, consequent to an announcement made by her chemistry teacher about state-wide science fairs. As she developed her color-changing sutures, Dasia managed to win several other awards at a number of regional science fairs, before advancing to the national stage.

In January 2021, Taylor was named one of 40 finalists in the Regeneron Science Talent Search, this STEM-based event is one of the country’s oldest and most prestigious science and math competitions for high school seniors. Taylor received a $25,000 prize from the Iowa City News Citizen, a local daily published by Iowa City. Since the beginning of her project, Taylor has also conducted a series of studies that could offset the risks of using cotton.

Additionally, she received the Glenn T. Seaborg Award for recognition and encouragement of research and education in nuclear chemistry and radiochemistry.

As is stated in the Daily Iowan, in spite of her world-altering scientific achievement, Dasia Taylor continues to argue that “she is not a scientific person” ​, which, according to her chemistry teacher Carolyn Walling, is the biggest issue in terms of how she views herself.

Furthermore, according to the Blackpast webpage, not only has this Iowa City freshman revolutionized the medical world, but she is also a great activist for diversity, equality and inclusion for women and black people, which ultimately moved her to pursue a major in political science. Her interest in this cause comes from the many racist experiences she has gone through in her short life. Before attending her High School, Taylor was a student at Clear Creek Amana High School in Tiffin, Iowa, where she was discouraged from participating in the science competition team due to the color of her skin. As a result of this experience, Taylor has been campaigning for an anti-racism course since 2017. Consequently, she now devotes hours on end after school to working as president of the Black History Game Show.

As Otis Alexander explains in the same webpage: “Taylor's discovery of beets as a source of dye for early detection and prevention of postoperative wound infections was a major development in medicine”. ​ With this kind of scientific achievement at such a young age, as can be seen in her Instagram page, Taylor received an invitation to numerous shows such as The Ellen DeGeneres Show, the Dr. Oz Show and Mission Unstoppable.

Furthermore, she has been featured in several media outlets as the CNN, the Washington Post, the Daily Iowan, Eastern Iowa’s The Gazette, the Press Citizen, the Smithsonian Magazine, the People, the Black Enterprise, the Blavity and much more.

Scientific research

Color-changing sutures

As we can see in Blackpast webpage, Taylor gained national and worldwide attention when developing color-changing surgical sutures that enable to prevent wound infections, for which she squeezed at least three dozen beets over the period of 18 months.

In accordance to Theresa Machemer in her article for Smithsonian Magazine and Ben Frotscher in his article for Iowa Magazine, skin is naturally acidic, with a PH of around 5, but infected wounds have a higher pH level, between 8 or 9. As Machemer explains in that same article, at only 15 years old, Taylor discovered that a natural indicator like juiced beets could change color from bright red to dark purple depending on the pH present when applied to the surgical suture, revealing infection in a wound. Moreover, Smithsonian Magazine describes how she tried various different vegetables before concluding that beet was the most effective one and then found a sewing thread, that would hold the beet dye, by testing ten different materials.

As opposed to high-tech or expensive monitored sutures, the usage of beets for the early detection of wound infections offers a more economical, accessible and equitable health care. Considered a significant and remarkable development in medical science, the Daily Iowan Magazine states Taylor plans to continue her research in the subject until finding a solid commercial utility for it.

In addition, as both, the Iowa and Smithsonian magazine, report, she is currently working on patenting her discoveries to take rightful ownership of all of her scientific achievements.