Now they can take the pill

• April 28, 2024

Due to the need to have different strategies of birth control that do not fall exclusively on women, scientists from the UNAM have created a non-hormonal and reversible male contraceptive that, in addition to being efficient and safe, produces no side effects.

The group of researchers from the institutes of Biotechnology (IBT) and Cellular Physiology of the UNAM, headed by AlBerto Darszon Israel, They designed this male contraceptive based on the inhibition of the functions of two channels, one of calcium and another of potassium, exclusive of sperm.

To ensure the effectiveness of this male contraceptive, UNAM scientists identified the CatSper (calcium) and Slo3 (potassium) ion channels, which are necessary in the regulation of sperm motility, path to the female ovum, as well as as in its fertilization.

The cells invest a good part of their energy to generate differences in the concentration of ions (atoms with electrical charge) inside and outside. Ionic channels allow the fast and regulated flow of ions through the membranes that separate the inside and the outside of the cell, which, by identifying the molecules that inhibit this action, makes it reversible.

The action of this male contraceptive will inscribe the Mexican contraceptive in the so-called molecular white drugs. And although currently many pharmaceutical companies do not invest in the reproductive area, this project could be viable, with a view to its commercialization, according to the also creator of the Sperm Physiology Consortium in the IBT.