Overture Life, a Spanish company, was able to develop a robot that injects sperm and that can be maneuvered with a PlayStation Controller. They were able to use the robot for human egg fertilization, which eventually led to the birth of two babies.
Robot-Conceived Babies
More specifically, the team of engineers used robot needles for sperm-to-egg insertion. This was done at the New Hope Fertility Center in NYC, as reported by NDTV.
According to a report by MIT Technology Reviews, there was one team member that did not know much about fertility medicine. This is where the Sony PlayStation 5 controller came into play. The game controller was used for positioning the in-vitro fertilization (IVF) needle as it eyed a human egg cell using a camera. The device then stepped forward independently, struck the egg, and released the sperm.
Eduard Alba, the student engineer behind the PlayStation 5 controller, expressed that he was calm as the procedures took place. He explained that he considered the it just another experiment.
Futurism reports that the procedure apparently worked. This robotic fertilization resulted in the birth of two girls.
ALSO READ : IVF Babies 26% More Likely to be Born Prematurely as Mothers Are at Higher Risk of Pregnancy Complications
Future of In-Vitro Fertilization: Cheaper, Robotic IVF
Essentially, these atypical robotic procedures mirror the conventional ways of doing IVF. Typically, IVF involves human specialists uniting a male's sperm and a female's egg. This is done on a dish with the help of a specialized IVF needle and under a microscope.
At times, procedures lead to fertilization, but this is not always the case.
Moreover, due to the labor-intensive and delicate procedures involved in IVF, the procedure is extremely pricey. The report notes that each pregnancy attempt across the US costs a whopping $20,000.
Santiago Munné, the chief geneticist of Overture Life, says that IVF needs to be cheaper. He adds that if any doctor was capable of performing it, the procedures would indeed be more affordable, as reported by the New York Post.
As per NDTV, this robot could be a vital step towards the automation of IVF. This may cut down the cost of procedures and make it more common and available to the public.
The New York Post adds that Overture Life has submitted a patent application. In this application, they detail a biochip for an IVF lab that features inconspicuous reservoirs that carry growth fluids and that have small channels for sperm to route through.
MIT Technology Review has also noted that six other startups are working towards similar goals. These firms include Conceivable Life Sciences, AutoIVF, IVF 2.0, and Fertilis. However, Overture has garnered the most funding. It was able to raise roughly $37 million worth of investments.
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