A BREAKTHROUGH has been made that could result in drug testing that is faster and more accurate, leading to more efficient and effective medicines.

Dr Michael Stockenhuber of Newcastle University collaborated with researchers at the University of Cardiff in Wales to discover how plastic materials called polymers bind to molecules.

His research involves designing polymers that can detect and separate enzymes, proteins and drugs in blood.

This will make it easier and faster to test for a wide range of drugs.

"We put this polymer onto an electrical probe to detect molecules in the blood," he said.

The probe would then send a signal indicating the presence of the drug, allowing the results to be accessed almost instantaneously.

The technology will also enable medicines to be directed to specific areas of the body, increasing their effectiveness and reducing side effects.

Dr Stockenhuber said it would be particularly useful for some potent cancer drugs that could cause damage to parts of the body where they were not needed.

"You could treat liver cancer without the drug going into other parts of the body."

The research is still in its early stages, and Dr Stockenhuber said it could be another five to 10 years before its applications were widely available.

The research has been published in this month's Royal Society of Chemistry Journal .