An experimental male birth control drug has been shown to temporarily paralyze sperm in mice and effectively prevent pregnancy for over two hours with full fertility returning after 24 hours. The effectiveness rate of the drug in mice clocked in at 100 percent.
According to a Feb. 14 study published in the journal Nature, scientists experimented with soluble adenylyl cyclase (sAC), a protein that is essential for sperm motility and maturation. Earlier studies had shown that men who could not produce sAC were infertile while being otherwise healthy.
In this study, scientists from Weill Cornell Medicine looked at the potential of using sAC inhibitors as a male contraceptive. Once sperm become immobile, they can not travel through the vaginal tract and fertilize eggs….