What’s the coolest thing you’ve ever done with a PlayStation 5 controller, and why isn’t it bringing human life into the world?
For many aspiring parents, in vitro fertilization (IVF) is prohibitively expensive.
Spanish IVF startup Overture Life, which has raised ~$37m from backers including Google Ventures and 23andMe co-founder Anne Wojcicki, has an idea: automation.
And recently, it announced the first babies born via its fertilization bot, per MIT Technology Review.
Typically, highly trained embryologists handle sperm and egg cells with thin, hollow needles under a microscope.
But Overture implanted a sperm cell into an egg using a robotic needle, which an engineer piloted using a Sony PS5 controller.
CIO and geneticist Santiago Munné told MIT that he ultimately envisions a mini-IVF lab — “a box where sperm and eggs go in, and an embryo comes out five days later.” Any GYN could use the tech, thus, making it much cheaper than seeing a specialist.
… in the IVF space, a market expected to be worth $36.2B by 2026.
Fairtility’s Cultivating Human Life through Optimal Embryos (CHLOE) is an AI-powered tool to help clinicians select healthy embryos.
Fertilis makes 3D-printed cradles to hold eggs and embryos, reducing human handling.
These developments are full of potential that once felt like sci-fi (e.g., artificial wombs), but full automation is still a long way off.
Overture’s process still requires humans, and some doctors MIT spoke with believe robots aren’t quite capable of outperforming humans… at least not yet.
BTW: Yes, we did find a game in which you are a sperm cell attempting to fertilize an egg — no PS5 required.