Scientists from Germany have developed little robot suits ala Iron Man, which were specifically made to aid sperm movement in fertilizing an egg cell, so men can finally stop shooting blanks.

According to Science Alert, if the researchers can replicate their scientific breakthrough inside the lab into an actual human being, this would help a lot of couples who are struggling to conceive a child.

These nano bots that wrap around the sperm are miniature metal helixes that attach themselves around the tail of a single sperm, helping it make its way towards the egg cell. It will then be powered with the aid of a magnetic field controlled by the scientists. Once the sperm reached the egg and embedded itself, the metal casing will then reverse its direction to detach.

However, all the experiments done so far were made using bull sperms inside a petri dish.

Pop Sci noted that the magnetic field used in the experiment did not harm any of the cells, therefore making it suitable to be used on actual living tissue. Furthermore, the lab tests showed that the motors have done an effective job of moving a healthy sperm from one spot to another, with little to no damage to cell.

There are reports like the ones made by Jezebel implying that this invention may cause men to become obsolete. However it seems far from reality and likely to be meant as a satirical take because, according to how the world works, sperm comes from men and these inventions are not sperm themselves, but just robots that help in cell movement.

The research is noted to be still at an early stage, but the invention could potentially be a cheaper and more effective alternative to artificial insemination and in vitro fertilization.

But the German scientists noted that there are still challenges on how it will achieve a successful fertilization with "motorized" sperms. They said that they "believe that the potential of this novel approach toward assisted reproduction can be already put into perspective with the present work."

For specifics, the tiny bots are measured to be 50 microns long, 5 to 8 microns in diameter and consist of iron and titanium nano particles.

The potential for the new invention does not stop at just fertilization. According to Eric Diller, an expert from the University of Toronto, "This type of hybrid approach could lead the way in making efficient robotic micro-systems."

For now, the team is focused on improving the control of the direction of the sperm bots by upgrading its micro-motor construction.