A Welsh scientist working on a new male pill wants to reduce the burden on women of protecting against unwanted pregnancies.
Prof Chris Barratt is leading research on a non-hormonal drug which prevents sperm cells from reaching an egg.
His team at the University of Dundee has received significant funding from the Bill and Melina Gates Foundation.
“It’s been a very poorly researched topic for 40 or 50 years,” Prof Barratt said, but society has changed.
His team’s research could see men given a gel or a pill that would affect the sperm cell, effectively disabling its function.
Instead of targeting the production of sperm, his research focuses on slowing the sperm cells’ swimming action down and making them similar to those in infertile patients.
This is belied by the fact that one of the most common elective procedures for men is a vasectomy. It (actually) has more to do with numbers. In men you have to block millions of sperm- in women it’s one egg. Physiologically, it’s an easier problem to solve in women.