When it comes to preventing pregnancy, the burden falls largely on women. But that responsibility could soon shift, according to new research from Columbia University that raises the tantalizing prospect of a male birth control pill.
sperm
Sale Alert! Holiday Savings on Sperm
While it’s far from a traditional gift, vials of sperm may be at the top of the list for couples and single women facing infertility. A sale on sperm from two branches of the world’s largest group of sperm banks could at least …
Using Sperm-Producing Cells to Treat Type 1 Diabetes
Georgetown University researchers report that they were able to coax cells that normally produce sperm to make insulin instead, and used them to temporarily cure Type 1 diabetes in mice.
Sperm on Steroids: 6 Inches Long and Raring to Fertilize
Call them sperm on steroids, these 6-inch (15 cm) long wriggly organisms that Australian fertility specialists have magnified more than 7000x to help determine which are most likely to fertilize that lucky egg.
Pregnant drinking link to low sperm count for sons?
Research presented this week at the annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology in Rome suggests that men whose mothers had several alcohol drinks per week during pregnancy may have lower quality sperm. The study, conducted by researchers from the University of Aarhus in Denmark, studied 347 men born
…
Developing a once-a-month male birth control pill?
In the search for a form of male contraception that can rival the female birth control pill, a team of researchers from Israel may have just made a breakthrough. As the Telegraph reports, in initial animal trials the team of researchers found that a pill they’d developed — which works by stripping sperm of a protein necessary to
…
Male birth control: stopping sperm with ultrasound?
Among the 78 research projects to receive $100,000 grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation earlier this week as part of the Grand Challenges in Global Health initiative, is an effort by researchers at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, to develop a non-invasive, reversible form of birth control for men — using
…
How sperm swim: a clue for male contraception?
Though sperm are generally considered pretty wriggly little guys, before they are launched into action, so to speak, they aren’t racing around. While researchers have long known that what gets them swimming is a change in internal pH level—the more alkaline their pH, the more aggressively they swim—until now, the mechanism by which
…