Synopsis:

Male Reversible Contraception By Sylvia English

My name is Sylvia and I am currently in my third year of my biomedical sciences degree majoring in Human Genetics and Molecular pathology. When thinking about a topic for this talk, I tried to think what would help New Zealanders, and our global community as a whole. We have so much going on in our country but an idea is only powerful if it can be presented clearly and applications are easily understood. When it comes to the crunch, what gets people interested is Sex. As Sir Paul Callaghan said last year Our power lies in the weird things that the big guys fail to exploit. Many scientists have thrown a Male Reversible Contraceptive in the too hard basket. This isnt the right attitude for innovation, but it does provide a clear challenge. There are many possible targets for a male reversible contraceptive (diagram will be shown). Sperm is produced in the testes and travels up the vas tubule, passing several secretary vessels along the way, which provide nutrients. The difficulty lies in the sheer volume of mature sperm developed on daily basis making it much harder to target male reproduction in comparison to the one egg, once a month of the female cycle. We could target: hormones that control spermatogenesis, arrest sperm development, reduce sperm motility or binding ability to the egg. Over the centuries there have been attempts to target almost all of these areas (discuss clearly and in a overview style) Cannabis use stops sperm production based on traditional Peruvian Male Contraception. Wet heat method, 45 minutes everyday for three weeks to gain 6 months worth of contraception. This is a time consuming and painstaking process. Gossypium from the cotton plant arrests spermatogenesis but causes high calcium levels in the blood and is unpredictably irreversible in some men. Oleanic acid significantly reduces sperm motility. Physical barrier: implanted stint in vas deferens. Clogs with too much protein (ie sperm). Hormonal based methods so far have had considerable rates of depression and other serious side effects associated with them. (There is a significant body of research on this, which I will explain briefly) NOT ONE of these methods so far has been 100% effective and with no significant side effects. Currently the only forms of contraception available to men are condoms, permanent surgery or the extremely unreliable withdrawal method. (Show contraception efficacy table.) A reversible male contraceptive would be incredibly useful in New Zealand and would have huge advantages in global aid work. In order to be marketable, it must be easily accessible and cheap to manufacture. An injectable polymer to coat the inside vas deferens and disable the sperm as they pass through is currently being developed. RISUG (Reversible Inhibition of Sperm Under Guidance) has been developed by Dr. Sujoy Gula in India, and is now in the middle of stage three clinical trials. It is a viscous polymer that is injected into the vas deferens. Once inside, it forms a coat on the inner lining of this tubule. The polymer actively degrades sperm so they cannot bind to the

egg, thus preventing pregnancy (Show diagrams) Discuss detailed pros and cons of this method and why it is my clear favorite for further work in NZ. How can New Zealand be involved in this socially critical area? There are several promising options emerging, and it is time that New Zealand stood at the forefront of this potentially incredible technology. If we can be the first country to give women the vote, surely we strive to provide men with the equality of choice when it comes to contraception? (Discuss manufacturing within NZ) We could combine RISUG with other forms of administration and low levels of long term nutrient supplies to give more than just contraception as a benefit. (Discuss other combination events) Think of how we can stand up in the global community and deliver what everyone else has long searched for. This is about New Zealands image in the world. I think we are a country that can make a difference and with this technology we can apply it far and wide as a savior tool for over population problems and enhancing social equality. Is there a nobler mission?