Scientists may have discovered a new male contraceptive: zapping sperm with a dose of ultrasound.

According to a study carried out on rats, small doses of ultrasound applied to the testicles can stop the production of sperm, lowering it to levels that would leave humans infertile. The revelation was described by researchers as a “promising candidate” in contraception.

However, it’ll be some time before we see men queuing to have their genitalia zapped, as further test(e)s are required before this method can be used. Lead researcher Dr James Tsuruta points out:

“Further studies are required to determine how long the contraceptive effect lasts and if it is safe to use multiple times.”

That said, ultrasound as a contraceptive is not a new idea. The concept was first put forward in the ’70s, and is only now being tested by researchers at the University of North Carolina. The group working on the research received a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The findings of the research team suggest the treatment works best when delivered two days apart. It was discovered two 15-minute doses were enough to “reduce significantly” the number of sperm-producing cells. In rats, the sperm count dropped to below 10 million sperm per milliliter – humans are said to be infertile when the count drops to below 15 million sperm per milliliter.

Any chaps out there think this sounds a little less stressful than current male contraceptives?

New Male Contraceptive Involves Zapping Sperm with Ultrasound is a post from: The Inquisitr

Researchers in Israel and Germany have successfully created mouse sperm in a laboratory. Scientists are attempting to find a way in which infertile men could eventually father their own children through the use of artificially created sperm.

To complete the processor researchers took germ cells, the ones found in testicles that are responsible for sperm production and then fashioned a “testicle-like” environment by surrounding the germ cells with agar jelly.

According to one of the researchers who spoke with the Daily Telegraph:

“We were able to produce viable sperm that could have been used to create baby mice. The sperm appeared healthy and were not genetically damaged.”

While the study has not been conducted on humans at this time the researcher goes on to note:

“I believe it will eventually be possible to routinely grow human male sperm to order.”

One proposed process for humans would be to use mice as “hosts” for the human germ cells until such a time that sperm can be produced, a move that would likely outrage animal rights groups and lead to children being called “mice babies” by new agencies looking to capitalize on the unfortunate name.

It should be noted that any viable solution found from this process is likely years away along with who knows how many meetings, arguments and studies needing to be conducted by regulatory committees before the process possibly sees the light of day.

If Mice aren’t already doing enough for us Scientists recently announced that they were able to reverse the aging process in Mice using stem cell shots, a process that will likely receive more attention in the coming months and years ahead.

Would you use mice sperm produced in a lab if it meant getting rid of infertility and allowing you to father a child?

[Image via ShutterStock.com]

Mouse Sperm Grown In Lab, Considered Viable During Early Testing is a post from: The Inquisitr

Trent Arsenault, a 36-year-old Silicon Valley computer security specialist has come under the fire of the Food and Drug Administration for providing a one-man sperm bank.

The 36-year-old doesn’t charge for his “never frozen” sperm but instead provides it for free to couple’s looking for artificial insemination services.

Arsenault told the Mercury News:

“They contact me because my sperm is fresh, not frozen … It hasn’t been quarantined for years.”

The FDA says his “firm” is distributing semen and is therefore listed as a “manufacturer of human cells, tissues, and cellular and tissue-based products.”

The agencies biggest concern is that Arsenault does not take the proper steps to avoid the spread of communicable diseases.

If found guilty the security specialist could spend up to one year in prison and pay a fine up to $100,000.

With more than a dozen children fathered from his sperm and four “clients” currently impregnated he says regardless of the outcome, ”I’m happy to help the rest of the 99 percent who aren’t so rich.” Arsenault says he simply wants to make the process of insemination “affordable” for people who can’t afford to pay a sperm bank thousands of dollars.

To spread his message and his sperm he shows off his personal background and sexually transmitted disease tests on the website www.trentdonor.org, he also lists an organic diet meant to keep him virile.

Do you believe the Food and Drug Administration has overstepped their bounds or should Trent Arsenault shut down his one-man sperm bank until he can follow federally regulated guidelines?

One-Man Sperm Bank Targeted By FDA is a post from: The Inquisitr

If you are reading this on a WiFi-enabled computer, please be warned that a new study published in the Fertility and Sterility journal has linked WiFi connectivity with possible sperm damage.

Researchers placed drops of healthy sperm near a laptop downloading data. Four hours later, it was observed that a quarter of the sperm stopped swimming and 9 percent showing DNA damage. In a separate controlled environment away from the computer, only 14 percent of the sperm stopped swimming.

Argentinian researchers believed that electromagnetic radiation from wireless internet caused the zapping of the sperm.

If this is any consolation to WiFi loving men, researchers said that the results were not conclusive and more research should be done.

If in case this is true, would you give up using WiFi for a healthy sperm?

WiFi May Be Nuking Your Sperm is a post from: The Inquisitr

Uh… I don’t think this is how they thought you wanted to use it…

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[Pic] Woman Wins Right to Use Dead Husband’s Sperm? is a post from: The Inquisitr

Just to ensure you keep reading, there’s actually possibly a condition called “semen withdrawal,” wherein a woman deprived of unprotected sex experiences a corresponding decrease in happiness. You’re welcome.

Not only were women included in a study “far more devastated and adversely affected [after a breakup] than those that were using condoms,” that particular notion is actually part of a far larger debate, as to whether there are natural anti-depressant qualities in semen. A doctor-guy who writes for other doctors even was fired over the debate when he quipped, insulting some female surgeons:

“So there’s a deeper bond between men and women than St. Valentine would have suspected, and now we know there’s a better gift for that day than chocolates.”

Okay, Dr. Lazar Greenfield, that’s just creepy. Popular Science aggregates much of the backstory that developed after a 2002 study of nearly 300 college women- some of whom had condomless sex, some of whom used a condom and some of whom abstained entirely. Interestingly, there was ‘no significant difference’ in depression rates between abstainers and condom users, which suggested to researchers that semen may be an influencing factor.

Popular Science also spoke to Gordon Gallup, an evolutionary psychologist at SUNY Albany- Gallup offered this assessment of the results:

“Seminal plasma evolved to control and manipulate the female reproductive system so as to work toward the best interests of the donor — the male,” Gallup explains. “If you begin to think about semen in those terms, then the fact that semen might have antidepressant properties becomes a lot more interesting in that it may promote bonding between the female and her sexual partner.” Such bonding, Gallup says, could increase the male’s chances of developing a long-term reproductive relationship with a female that would work to his reproductive advantage.”

So… semen as an anti-depressant is gaining some steam. You can read the full run down here- have you noticed and anecdotal effect?

Semen study get shot in the… arm from ‘Popular Science’ is a post from: The Inquisitr

Doctors can vary a bit in the recommendations about drinking and pregnancy.

Some medical professionals say as much as a glass of wine daily is okay, while some believe there is no way to determine how much alcohol, if any, is safe to consume while pregnant. But a new study indicates that even moderate drinking during pregnancy can have lasting effects on a male fetus:

In a study of almost 350 young men, sperm levels were a third lower in those whose mothers had drunk more than four drinks a week during pregnancy compared with teetotallers.

The Danish researchers told a fertility conference these men may have a harder time getting their partner pregnant.

The study grouped participants one of four ways: women who abstained totally, those who consumed 1-2 units of alcohol per week, those who consumed 3-4 units of alcohol per week and those who drank more than 4 units a week. Men whose mothers belonged to the latter groups had a concentration of sperm 32% lower than men in the first group.

The BBC goes on to state that UK researchers believe drinking while pregnant may not so much cause the reduced fertility in affected males so much as indicate other markers leading to the findings. Dr. Alan Pacey of the University of Sheffield elaborated:

“It needs following up but it might help us understand factors which affect testicle development in the womb.”

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Drinking while pregnant can reduce future fertility in a male fetus is a post from: The Inquisitr

While copious amounts of the hippity dippty seem like a given if you want to make a baby, it seems that daily ejaculation for “at least a week” prior to conception is ideal to boost fertility.

Up until recently, it was believed that resisting the urge to ejaculate was possibly a good method of getting a semen retention headache increasing the amount of laundry you have to sneak into the hamper when your girlfriend isn’t looking improving sperm quality. But a bunch of Australian medical experts have found evidence that you’re not getting enough BJs. In their own words:

He studied 118 men with above-average sperm DNA damage and found the quality of their sperm increased significantly after they were told to ejaculate daily for seven days.

On average, their DNA fragmentation index — a measure of sperm damage — fell to 26 percent from 34 percent, Greening told the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology in Amsterdam on Tuesday.

Frequent sex does decrease semen volume but for most men this is not a problem.

Researchers believe that frequent sex or fapping reduces the amount of time sperm are exposed to damaging elements in testicular ducts. Yay for daily health routines!

Tell your missus, daily ejaculation now recommended! is a post from: The Inquisitr

Never fear, I am here to piss off the politically correct goodie two-shoes bunch once more with the help of a report about to be published in Intelligence. It’s a tough job but some one’s got to do and it is made easier when you start talking about people’s intelligence. I can just imagine gnashing of teeth that is bound to follow the report by Rosalind Arden of King’s College in London where she suggests that intelligence is actually under genetic control.

Along with a bunch of other researchers Ms Arden is looking for connections between intelligence, genetics and health. The current thinking is that general intelligence is measured using a value called Spearman’s g. This g value is correlated to the many aspects of a person’s health; up to and including lifespan. One of the explanations used for this is that intelligent people make better choices about how they conduct their lives.

What Ms. Arden and Geoffrey Miller; of the University of New Mexico, suggest is that it may be that intelligence is one manifestation of an underlying, genetically based healthiness

These biologists believe intelligence, as manifested in things like artistic and musical ability, is such a reliable indicator of underlying genetic fitness that it has been chosen by members of the opposite sex over the millennia. In the ensuing arms race to show off and get a mate it has been exaggerated in the way that a peacock’s tail is. This process of sexual selection, Dr Miller and his followers believe, is the reason people have become so brainy.

In order to test the theory Ms Arden used 425 cases where samples of sperm from unvasectomised men had been collected as a part of a different larger study. What she wanted to find out was if this g values would correlate with all three standard measures of sperm quality (number of sperm per cubic centimetre, total number of sperm in the ejaculate, sperm motility). Turns out they did

Moreover, neither age nor any obvious confounding variable that might have been a consequence of intelligent decisions about health (obesity, smoking, drinking and drug use) had any effect on the result. Brainy men, it seems, do have better sperm.

Guess this kind of give a whole new meaning to the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree or better yet the sins of the father shall be visited upon the sons. Gee .. thanks dad!.

I wonder if they’ll come up with a SIQ (spermal IQ) next?

Oh sure, blame my sperm is a post from: The Inquisitr