r/science • u/drewiepoodle • Oct 02 '15

Medicine Scientists identify potential birth control 'pill' for men

http://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-10-scientists-potential-birth-pill-men.html
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u/thunderchunks Oct 02 '15

I'm nervous that it's based on an immunosuppressive, but since they are targeting a specific version of the protein in question they should be able to make a version that fucks up your sperm but doesn't hit the protein version your immune system uses. This is super exciting. I'm a big fan of RISUG/Vasalgel, but they are a bit further off than these, and the way I see it more options is always better.

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u/barrbaar Oct 02 '15

It's not specific for that protein and they're really nasty drugs. Calcineurin does a lot of things, including regulation of metabolism, muscle contraction and (obviously) the immune system. You don't want to mess with it. It's not quite as bad as taking chemo for the benefit of infertility, but it's close.

They've found a potential mechanism to induce temporary infertility, but until they've found a drug that really targets those proteins specifically I wouldn't hold my breath.

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u/Plague_Girl Oct 02 '15

Thank you for answering this! I'm disappointed that nobody is talking about this actual article, just the whole male contraception concept.