The contraceptive comes in the form of a hydrogel, which is injected directly into the vas deferens in an outpatient procedure.
Women have far more control over their bodies today than we did before the pill was invented. But reproduction is a two-player game, and women still carry a far greater burden than men when it comes to preventing unwanted pregnancy. A Virginia-based startup called Contraline is hoping to change this. The company developed a new type of contraceptive for men, and just implanted it in four people as part of an initial clinical trial. You Shall Not Pass Unlike male birth control pills that have undergone clinical trials in the past (unsuccessfully, it seems), Contraline's method doesn't involve hormones, and its aim isn't to decrease or stop sperm production. Instead, it blocks sperm from getting to mens' urethras, where it would ultimately be ejaculated—and possibly enter a woman, fertilize one of her eggs, and create a baby. Sperm are produced in the testes and stored in an adjacent organ called the epididymis. They're carried from there to the urethra through a fibromuscular tube called the vas deferens. Contraline's contraceptive works by blocking semen from getting through the vas deferens. Called ADAM, the contraceptive comes in the form of a hydrogel, which is injected directly into the vas deferens in an outpatient procedure that uses local anesthesia and takes less than 30 minutes. Without affecting sensation or ejaculation, the gel acts as a barrier to sperm flow, blocking it from traveling through the tube. The blocked sperm naturally degrade. At the end of the gel's lifespan it liquefies, allowing sperm to resume flowing through the vas deferens. Making…