|
Non-hormonal pill without side-effects soon
Thursday March 17, 2011 08:08:07 PM,
PTI
|
|
London: A scientific
breakthrough claims to have opened the way to a non hormonal
contraceptive pill for women, which will be free of side-effects.
Lab experiments show a hormone released by an egg ready to be
fertilised acts as a 'come hither' message to sperms which then
react in a blink.
The discovery means it may be possible to develop a non-hormonal
pill to turn the signal off, the journal Nature reports.
Researcher Polina Lishko and colleagues at the University of
California, US, carried out experiments on mouse and human sperm
to investigate how they detect an egg ready for fertilisation,
according to the Daily Mail.
They measured the electrical currents that drive the wiggling
movements of a sperm's tail on its journey towards an egg newly
released from the ovary.
They found that when the sperm gets a boost of progesterone, a
hormone released by cells surround the egg, the electric current
get a boost and their tails move faster.
Developed in the 1960s, the pill is credited with giving women
sexual freedom. But it can cause dangerous side effects, such as
increased risk of blood clots, high blood pressure and breast
cancer.
It works in women by using hormones to suppress ovulation - the
release of an egg. As there is no egg to be fertilised, pregnancy
cannot occur.
But now scientists believe they have discovered a chemical,
CatSper, a calcium channel on the sperm that is attracted to the
hormone progesterone which is released by eggs.
Scientists say it would be possible to create a non-hormonal drug
that prevents the process and, as a result, stops sperm from
swimming towards the egg.
|
|
Home |
Top of the Page |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Top
Stories |
|
 Go
Manmohan, says opposition after WikiLeaks expose
The embattled Manmohan Singh government Thursday faced its worst
crisis yet with the opposition joining hands in asking it to
resign immediately following allegations on WikiLeaks that the
Congress had
»
Wikileaks on Cash for
Vote:
Quotable Quotes
Leaders,
aides deny WikiLeaks claims |
|
|
|
Most
Read |
|
MLAs
demand release of 2006 Malegaon blast accused in Maha Assembly
A day after the special MCOCA court in
Mumbai dismiss »
Maha
minority panel to demand Muslim youths' release at National meet |
|
Ruckus in Jammu and Kashmir
assembly over interlocutors' report
Opposition parties Thursday held noisy protests in the legislative
assembly against the sixth report of interlocutors on Jammu and
Kashmir that has recommended restoration of autonomy to the state.
»
Hope in
Kashmir as interlocutors begin mission
|
|
|
|
News Pick |
|
 ISI-CIA
deal clinched Davis release, US denies paying blood money
The release of Raymond Davis, an
American who
»
Davis's
release challenged in Pakistan court |
|
Bhiwandi
to New Delhi on motorbike… Alam Khan drives to seek justice
On the first anniversary of 26/11 Mumbai terror attack,
he walked from Bhiwandi to Mumbai. On the second, from Bhikku
» |
|
Only 47
Minority institutions given funds so far under IDMI
scheme
The Congress-led UPA government had in
2008 announced the Infrastructure Development of Private
Aided/Unaided Minority Institutes (Elementary Secondary/Senior
Secondary
»
|
|
This
Indian professor doesn't want to return from Japan
Even as
Japan faces the worst tragedy since World War-II, 55-year-old Saleem-ul-Rahman Nadvi,
who has been living in the island nation for last 30 years,
doesn't
»
IAEA
chief calls situation 'very serious', heads to Japan
|
|
Delhi-based bogus company visits Panjab University
Panjab
University officials here were left red-faced after they
discovered that a Delhi-based company, which conducted campus
interviews at its School of Communication Studies (SCS) department
for public relations jobs, was bogus.
»
|
|
|
|
Picture of the Day |
|
 |
|
President
of India Mrs. Pratibha Devisingh Patil addressing at the
inauguration of the National Festival of Tribal Dances, ‘PRAKRITI’,
in New Delhi on March 16, 2011. Union Minister for Housing
and Urban Poverty Alleviation and Culture, Kum. Selja, Union
Minister for Tribal Affairs Kantilal Bhuria and Minister of
State for Tribal Affairs Mahadev S. Khandela are also seen.
(Photo:
Mukesh Kumar) |
|
|
|
|
Comments
|
Quick links