Watch Out,Male Contraceptives Are On Their Way

As surprising as it may sound, word in the air is that there is a Holy Grail of male contraception which is a pill that is 100% effective in preventing pregnancy and will allow men to enjoy a full sex life.
Although the future looks bright as regards this pill, attempts to accomplish the 100% effectiveness have been disappointing given that much focus has been accorded to men getting to produce non-functional sperm. Note, some of the drugs used for this function have been found to have intolerable effects and have since been omitted from the research one by one.
The research has shown that the drugs can induce infertility but may also interfere with the user’s sexual appetite or lead to permanent alterations to sperm production. However, a completely different approach into the quest has promised success.
This follows the idea that scientists in Australia have found a reversible way of stopping a sperm from getting into the ejaculate without affecting the sexual functioning process. This is a sort of ‘a biological snip’, if you ask me!
According to the Journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, tests on animals indicated that the sperm could be “kept in storage” during intercourse. This team of scientists from Monash University in Australia applied the novel approach. Under normal circumstances, sperm are transferred from the storage area in the testes (vas deferens) a moment before ejaculation.
Based on that, the scientists bred genetically modified mice that were not in a position to squeeze the out of the vas deferens, hence remained in the storage site. When time to ejaculate was due, it was found that there was no sperm present. In simple terms, they were infertile.
What is of most importance to this research is that the process is reversible and the sperm remains unaffected. But, there remains a task of the researcher which is to show whether this is actually possible while using a drug or two.
Insofar, the researchers have made the mice infertile by altering their DNA in order to stop them from making two proteins highly needed for moving the sperm. As of now, the researchers are working on finding a pair of drugs that can perform this task although they say one has been already developed and has been used on patients with benign prostate enlargement. Nevertheless, they have to work from scratch in order to find the second one for which this could take a bit of time.
Since the targeted proteins also have a role in controlling the blood vessels, the researchers noted that there could be some side effects on the user’s heart rate and blood pressure but that is yet to be confirmed. In addition, there could also be an effect on the volume of the ejaculate though it could be a ‘very slight’ drop.
With reference to Dr Allan Pacey who is a senior Andrology lecturer at the University of Sheffield said he was impressed with this development and considered it as a very good study which would offer a brighter and considerable future for both men and women of today who prefer planning their families.