18% of young people have suffered a condom break, 13% have slipped during use and 17% have lost their erection when putting it on. In addition, almost everyone associates its use with less pleasant sexual relations . Since they were invented in 1855 (with rubber) and began to be made with latex in the 1920s, condoms have evolved rather little. In 2013, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation launched an ideas contest to reinvent it. 800 concepts were presented, and two took the first prize, endowed with 100,000 dollars.
One of the initiatives, which is still under development, consists of incorporating graphene into latex rubbers , as proposed by the Indian company HLL Lifecare. This pure carbon material, just one atom thick, will increase the strength and mechanical properties of second generation condoms. After all, it is two hundred times stronger than steel , but enormously flexible and elastic. With the added advantage that it conducts heat better than copper, which will significantly improve the sensations during intercourse. And in addition, it would incorporate spermicidal or antimicrobial substances in order to reinforce its safety against infections or unwanted pregnancies.
Ecological and ultra-fast to put on
HLL Lifecare, led by Lakshminarayanan Ragupathy, is also working on a prototype biodegradable condom , odorless and compatible with preventative drugs. Currently, some environmentally conscious consumers opt for condoms made from sheepskin, but they are quite expensive.
The second project funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation bets on another “miracle material”: polyethylene . As Ron Frezieres, director of the Essential Access Health center (in California) and promoter of the project, explained to the Sinc agency, polyethylene is “transparent, odorless and hypoallergenic, five times thinner than latex and notably stronger.”
To solve the problem that many men allege, the cumbersomeness of putting it on, the entrepreneur Willem van Rensburg invented the “Rapidom” years ago, which is detached from its container and is ready to use in a single movement with the hands , without interrupting the act sexual. Van Rensburg, head of the Kimbranox company, says he is doing his bit to fight AIDS, which is hitting his country, South Africa, in particular.
Meanwhile, at the Australian University of Queensland, they are studying using nanocellulose extracted from an indigenous herb from Oceania , until now used as an adhesive. The idea is to make stronger, thinner and more flexible condoms. So far, they have managed to resist 20% more pressure and 40% more volume than traditional models with a 30% less thickness.
And finally, from Northwestern University (Chicago), Patrick Kiser advocates developing new bio-inspired polymers that mimic the properties of mucous membranes . Its objective is that the users of the future have the feeling of not wearing anything. Three years ago, Kirk already introduced a vaginal ring that delivers specific amounts of the retroviral tenofovir – to protect the user against herpes viruses and AIDS – and the contraceptive levonorgestrel for 90 days. The part of the ring that releases the compounds is made from two different types of polyurethane, painstakingly designed for exact dosing : 10 milligrams of tenofovir and 10 micrograms of levonorgestrel.
