Gates Foundation selects 11 condom contest winners
Nov 21, 2013, 12:55 PM | Updated: 1:40 pm
The goal is to get more people to use condoms: prophylactics that not only prevent unintended pregnancies and the spread of sexually transmitted disease, but would also encourage people to "seek out the use of condoms." (AP Photo/File)
(AP Photo/File)
The Seattle-based Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has chosen eleven of the best ideas for the next generation of condoms. The winning ideas get $100,000 for development.
The goal is to get more people to use condoms or prophylactics that not only prevent unintended pregnancies, but stop the spread of sexually transmitted disease. According to the Gates Foundation, the perceived loss of sensitivity plays a huge roll in the lack of use.
The foundation will eventually award up to $1 million for projects that could make it to store shelves.
Some of the ideas, including one from the University of Oregon, enhances sensitivity. Another design is described as something comparable to Saran wrap. Several of the designs say they’re easier to put on.
What may be the oddest design selected to move forward comes from San Diego’s Apex Medical Technologies. They are creating a condom made from “collagen fibrils from bovine tendons, which are widely available from meat processing.”
A favorite idea that wasn’t practical enough to score a grant included a “slingshot” application, which Ben Schiller, writing for the Gates Foundation, called “deeply silly.”
In September, the foundation put out another call for condom designs. They hope that projects will be ready for the public in 12 to 18 months.
