Scientists want to begin human trials this year, according to a new study that found male birth control to be 99 percent effective on mice.
People have been advocating for a male contraceptive for years, and scientists have been working hard to find a solution that will prevent men from impregnating women.
In the past, male birth control injections were said to be in the works. Scientists at the University of Minnesota have found male birth control pills instead.
According to reports, Dr. Abdullah al-Noman and his team at the university tested the pills on mice in clinical trials and discovered that they were 99 percent effective in preventing conception in the rodents.Despite these findings, experts have yet to determine whether the pills are safe for males.
Because people aren’t taking birth control pills for a condition, they are less tolerant of adverse effects, Dr. Noman explained.
Over the course of four weeks, he and his colleagues reportedly gave mice a daily dose of a chemical called YCT529 and discovered that their sperm count plummeted dramatically. Between four and six weeks after getting the medicine, the mice were able to reproduce normally again.
“The substance did not show any toxicity even when we reached 100 times the effective dose,” Noman said.
According to Richard Anderson of the University of Edinburgh, Dr. Noman’s finding of no side effects in mice, however, does not mean the medicine will be safe to use in humans.
“I believe it would be acceptable to be careful about safety when creating a medicine that targets a completely unique pathway when there isn’t a track record in that field.”
Would you like your man to join this male contraception ladies’ club? Let us know what you think in the comments section!
