To avoid accidents in clinics, the UK’s Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority is considering labelling all embryos, eggs and sperm with barcodes or electronic ID tags. The idea is that an alarm will sound if the wrong eggs and sperm are brought close to one another or if a doctor attempts to collect the wrong embryo to implant into a mother-to-be. IMT International is already developing barcodes for IVF procedures. Digital cameras built into the clinic’s benches read the barcodes off the labelled dishes containing eggs. A computer reads the codes, and sounds an alarm if they do not match with the patient. [New Scientist]