Glamour
12.3.15 | Andrea Bartz
Condoms deserve our slow clap any day of the week: They're cheap, effective, and, as the bizarre (and not condoned!) #condomchallenge proved, really hard to break. That said, they're far from perfect. Many people are allergic to latex (or just dislike it), and ordinary condoms don't have the ability to increase bloodflow or release human-safe but HIV-killing compounds if they spring a leak.
Well, the future is now, people! Mahua Choudhury, Ph.D., assistant professor at the Texas A&M (and our current hero) has developed a revolutionary new condom that sounds like something out of a Philip K. Dick novel. Like any good condom, it'd help prevent unplanned pregnancy and the spread of STDs. But this (rubber-free) rubber is special: It's made from hydrogel, a strong, water-based, elastic polymer that's already used in contact lenses, and infused with plant-based antioxidants called flavonoids. The compound has anti-AIDS properties, so if this condom breaks, the flavonoid is released, preventing the virus from replicating.
