Male Pill on the Horizon: Drug disables mouse sperm but wears off quickly
A practical birth control pill for men has long been on medicine’s wish list. Now, researchers have discovered that a new oral drug created to ease a genetic disorder could have contraceptive benefits.
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To date, the only government-approved male birth control methods are condom use and vasectomy (SN: 9/30/00, p. 222: https://www.sciencenews.org/20000930/bob2.asp). Experimental hormone-based contraceptives, such as testosterone-progestin injections, block men’s sperm production. But these can take up to 10 weeks to become effective and don’t wear off for months after they’re discontinued.