Liquid condom? Sounds kinky, but it could actually be a clever and much-needed health tool. Scientists have come up with a condom that forms a gel-like coating in the acidic vagina. When it comes into contact with the alkaline pH of semen, it turns into liquid, releasing an antiviral drug against HIV.

This particular product, described in December’s Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, is still years from clinical use, but the Chinese are one step ahead. They’ve got something called the “Nanometer-silver Cryptomorphic Condom” — a real mood-killer, that name — which is a spray foam that forms a thin membrane in the vagina.

For the skeptical, there are also several products in the pipeline that would replace condoms. Called microbicides, they’re gels or creams that women could use to protect themselves from HIV, in most cases without the knowledge of their partner. There are 16 of these in trials and results on 5 of them are expected next year.

It’s becoming increasingly obvious that to fight AIDS, we’ll have to come up with ways to protect women — particularly those who don’t have much choice about using condoms, whether it is because they are sex workers at the mercy of a john, or housewives at the whim of their husbands. The more options we can give them to protect themselves, the better.