MIT Technology Review Narrated
May 27, 2026 · 16 min · 9 segments
Automation, AI, and screening technologies are already transforming reproductive medicine. This story was written by Jessica Hamzelou and narrated by Noa - newsoveraudio.com
Matt HonanHostIn July 1978, Louise Joy Brown became the world's first person born with the help of in vitro fertilization.
But it's still not perfect.
The process can be slow, painful, and expensive, and that's for the lucky people who are able to access it in the first place.
And by at least one measure, IVF success rates have been declining in recent years.
Reproduction is complex, and there's a lot that embryologists and gynecologists still don't know and can't control.
They don't know why many healthy-looking embryos don't stick in the uterus, for example.
They don't always have an explanation for why their patients can't get pregnant, and they can't always account for vast differences in IVF success rates between individuals and between fertility clinics.
Scientists are working on all those questions and more.
They're wrestling with complex ethical questions about how new genetic tools will be used to analyze or even alter embryos.
In July 1978, Louise Joy Brown became the world's first person born with the help of in vitro fertilization.
But it's still not perfect.
The process can be slow, painful, and expensive, and that's for the lucky people who are able to access it in the first place.
And by at least one measure, IVF success rates have been declining in recent years.
Reproduction is complex, and there's a lot that embryologists and gynecologists still don't know and can't control.
They don't know why many healthy-looking embryos don't stick in the uterus, for example.
They don't always have an explanation for why their patients can't get pregnant, and they can't always account for vast differences in IVF success rates between individuals and between fertility clinics.
Scientists are working on all those questions and more.
They're wrestling with complex ethical questions about how new genetic tools will be used to analyze or even alter embryos.
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