Birth control for men? Would you be into that? It is effective, long lasting and reversible.

A group of Chinese biologists have developed a way that can reversibly kill sperm cells. To date the method has only been tested on mice. Before it is ready for use by humans, researchers would need to iron out a few kinks according to John Amory of the Univeristy of Washington.

This is how this birth control works. A mixture of nano sized rods of gold are injected into the testes of mice. The testes were then targeted with an infrared laser. The laser heats the gold that was injected into the testes. Once the testes reach a certain temperature, the sperm cells are killed. The sperm cells are not killed to a point that the cells can’t make new sperm though and the “killed sperm” only lasts for a particular period of time.

Some men seem to be more keen than others. When a human trial was set for another male birth control method, reporter Bill Gifford came across many males who seemed more than willing to use the technology. One man said:

I’d gladly put my balls on the chopping block for the benefit of mankind.

With the birth of the female pill, most believed the pill for men was only steps behind. But it wasn’t. One possible reason for this, according to researchers, is that developing birth control for men is far more challenging.

[Source: Popsci]