Building A Better Condom

Condoms are known to be highly effective at preventing unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases. And although they've been around for more than 400 years, over the last half-century their design has remained pretty much the same — until now.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which works to improve global health, has offered million-dollar challenge grants to scientists to design a better condom for the next generation.

Among the winners are two Boston doctors from the Boston University School of Medicine: radiology professor Ducksoo Kim and third-year radiology student Karen Buch. They're working on a nano-particle coating for condoms, and their hope is to solve the biggest challenge of condoms: despite their effectiveness, many people don't use them.

Karen Buch, radiology resident at BU School of Medicine working on a nano-particle coating for condoms