Approximately 100,000 men were asked if they would take the women’s responsibility on their shoulders. Surprisingly enough, more than a half agreed.
For a long period of time, contraceptive pills have been women’s responsibility, but now things may change due to a new discovery.
Scientists made an experiment on mice and thus discovered a way of obstructing a protein in sperm, restoring hopes with respect to male pills.
This idea has been in the researchers’ mind for years, but now the Japanese researchers may turn this dream into reality.
The experiment was made on male mice at Osaka University. It was led by Masahito Ikawa and published in Science journal. Scientists discovered a way to make them momentarily infertile by blocking a protein found in their sperm. To make that, researchers used chemical substances that can be found in immunosuppressant medicines, a treatment taken by people receiving new organs, so as their body doesn’t reject them.
Also, it was discovered that this drug doesn’t affect the animals’ capability of making sex. Moreover, it doesn’t affect their virility, as the medicine’s effect gradually disappears in a couple of days. So, if these pills appear, men shouldn’t be worried about losing their virility!
The protein called Calcineurin was found in mice’s sperm and can also be found in men’s sperm. If it could be blocked in mice, scientists don’t see a reason why it cannot have the same effect on men.
If you ever wondered why mice are always subject to different experiments, you should know that their genetic structure resembles that of human beings.
“Mice have the same cell types as men, the same hormones targeting certain cells and they also produce sperm,” said Lee Smith from the University of Edinburgh.
During the investigation, the researchers from Osaka University discovered that the blocked sperm was moving just as fast as the normal one. The only difference is that the last one lacks what they call “hyper activation,” which makes the sperm’s tail move very fast. The researchers draw the conclusion that the lack of Calcineurin makes the sperm very rigid and inflexible, thus making them incapable of penetrating the membrane that protects the egg.
Approximately 100,000 men were asked if they would take the women’s responsibility on their shoulders. Surprisingly enough, more than a half agreed.
Image Source: Wikimedia
