University students invent nail polish to fight date rape

A group of male university students have turned to fashion design in a bid to prevent women being raped.

The four chemistry students at North Carolina State University have invented a nail polish that changes colour when dipped in a drink that has been spiked with date rape drugs.

The product, named Undercover Colors, is intended to be a fashionable and ingenious way to foil the epidemic faced by many of their peers.

It recently won an award in a competition for students to try solving real-world problems.

"Our goal is to invent technologies that empower women to protect themselves from this heinous and quietly pervasive crime," the students – Ankesh Madan, Stephen Gray, Tyler Confrey-Maloney and Tasso Von Windheim – write on their Facebook page.

"Through this nail polish and similar technologies, we hope to make potential perpetrators afraid to spike a woman's drink because there's now a risk that they can get caught.

"In effect, we want to shift the fear from the victims to the perpetrators.

"We are Undercover Colors and we are the first fashion company empowering women to prevent sexual assault."

The polish is still in experimental stages.

They have already raised more than $US100,000 ($107,600) for development and are searching for additional investors.