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An experimental new type of male contraceptive that blocks sperm flow with a gel has been successful in monkey trials.
Vasalgel acts as a physical barrier once injected into the tubes that sperm would swim down to the penis.
The company behind it says a two-year trial, published in Basic and Clinical Andrology , shows the gel works and is safe - at least in primates.
It hopes to have enough evidence to begin tests in men within a few years.
If those get funding and go well - two big "ifs" - it will seek regulatory approval to make the gel more widely available to men.
It would be the first new type of male contraceptive to hit the market in many decades.
Vasagel is thought to have the same effect as a vasectomy — but another injection should dissolve the gel plug.
http://www.bbc.com/news/health-38879224
Related: The Perfect Birth Control for Men Is Here. Why Can't We Use It?
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday February 08 2017, @04:10PM
I assume that it was necessary to obtain from the primates, semen samples to do sperm count and quality analysis during these studies.
So now I'm curious. How was that done? Do the primates learn to eject it into a sample cup? Who teaches them that trick? Or are the samples obtained in some other way?
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by slinches on Wednesday February 08 2017, @04:45PM
As far as I'm aware, no samples were taken. They put the male monkeys they treated in an enclosure with female monkeys for a couple of years and checked to verify that didn't result in any new monkeys.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday February 08 2017, @05:28PM
That is at best an indirect indication of whether the treatment was successful.
Potential sources of error:
* subject monkeys too stressed after procedure to copulate
* subject monkeys not attracted to female monkeys in the enclosure
* subject monkeys not attracted to any female monkeys whether or not in the enclosure
* female monkeys in the enclosure unable to conceive
* female monkeys in the enclosure not attracted to male monkey
* female monkeys in the enclosure not attracted to any male monkeys
* female monkeys not interested in a male that has been experimented upon
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday February 08 2017, @06:00PM
* female monkeys not interested in a male that has been experimented upon
That's probably it. The gel smells like rotting meat, and the females don't want rotten sausage inserted into their vaginas. Makes sense to me.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 08 2017, @05:17PM
They filled out surveys, on the Internet.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday February 08 2017, @05:33PM
How would the monkeys have information about their fertility status in order to correctly fill out an internet survey? The monkeys would be aware that internet surveys require answers of the highest quality and accuracy because of the level of trust that so many place upon internet survey results.
The lower I set my standards the more accomplishments I have.
(Score: 3, Funny) by krishnoid on Wednesday February 08 2017, @07:04PM
They already considered this -- they used specially-bred 'survey monkeys' [surveymonkey.com] to ascertain the survey results were accurate.