A no-frills revolution for fertility treatment

AIR travel was once too expensive for all but the very rich. Now, thanks to low-cost carriers, it is sometimes the cheapest way to get from A to B. Could a similar revolution occur in fertility treatment? Two outfits have stripped IVF down to its bare essentials with the aim of making it affordable for African couples (see “Low cost IVF comes to Africa”). By relying on generic drugs and simple equipment, they plan to offer the procedure for about $350 per course, a fraction of the $12,000 it can cost in the west. The efforts are to be…