A research team has developed a non-hormonal method of male birth control, that reportedly kept lab mice sterile for four to six weeks with no side effects.
Researchers at the University of Minnesota analyzed the interaction of our bodies with vitamin A, which is essential to fertility in mammals.
They later developed an experimental compound (GPHR-529) that blocks a protein responsible for forming vitamin A (retinoic acid) in our cells.
Male mice given the medication for four weeks consistently experienced a sharp drop in sperm count and became sterile.
The mice ceased being infertile four to six weeks after they stopped taking the drug.
By the end of the year, early human trials of the drug are expected to start.
