Skip to content
Surprising Science

Hormonal Men?

A new human sex hormone that has been found in men could lead to the development of the male birth control pill, researchers have said.
Sign up for the Smarter Faster newsletter
A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

A new human sex hormone that has been found in men could lead to the development of the male birth control pill, researchers have said. “Gonadotropin-inhibitory hormone (GnIH)—first identified in birds about a decade ago—was recently discovered in the hypothalamus of the human brain. The hypothalamus produces hormones that regulate sleep, sex drive, body temperature, and more. GnIH suppresses another hormone—gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH)—which spurs the release of additional hormones, which get the body for sex and reproduction. So scientists cautiously suggest that contraceptives based on the newfound hormone could someday be possible. ‘That is an idea we’ve toyed with,’ said study co-author George Bentley, a biologist at the University of California, Berkeley. But ‘we don’t know enough about it yet’

Sign up for the Smarter Faster newsletter
A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

Related
While acknowledging the progress over the past 50 years that was enabled by birth control pills, Geraldine Sealey thinks we now need new methods beyond hormonal contraception.

Up Next