A male contraceptive is 'possible' thanks to 'game-changer' drug
manchestereveningnews.co.ukA male contraceptive is closer than ever thanks to the development of a 'game changer' drug by scientists. The experimental drug which has been tested on mice can stop sperm swimming for up to two-and-a-half hours and has so far shown no side effects.
The non-hormonal drug, which has been two years in the making, is being developed by close friends and pharmacology professors Dr Lonny Levin and Jochen Buck and their teams at Weill Cornell Medicine. The pair did not originally set out to find a male contraceptive drug, but thanks to the work of a colleague they discovered a way to stop sperm in it's 'tracks' by switching off a particular cellular signalling protein called soluble adenylyl cyclase (sAC). READ MORE: Investigation launched by university following allegations member of staff used n-word during lectures and seminars The team of scientists have now created a drug called TDI-11861 which stops the mice's sperm from swimming for up to two-and-a-half hours.
After three hours some sperm begins to regain mobility and after 24 hours the sperm is healthy again. During the test, male mice that were given the drug failed to impregnate female mice despite 52 attempts while mice that weren't given the substance impregnated almost one-third of their partners. Discover, learn, grow.
We are Curiously. Follow us on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. The experiments are part of a collaboration between the Dr Levin and Dr Buck's laboratories and the team are hoping to conduct more tests that will eventually lead to human clinical trials.
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