Sperm ’switch’ would allow men to turn their fertility on and off
Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics in Germany say they have discovered the protein which gives sperm the winning edge in fertilizing an egg. The ’winner’ reportedly carries a set of toxic mutations that poison rival sperm. The study proposes that a molecular ’switch’ in sperm could also allow men to turn their fertility on and off.
Not a good idea, if this happens unprotected sex will increase as will STIs
The ability to boost or reduce the potential for sperm to fertilize an egg has enticing applications (like improving fertility in men, or as an alternative to contraception), but this kind of research could be a double-edged sword as well. We're quite literally playing with people's ability to reproduce - a single point of failure. If anything were to go wrong or if it were used for nefarious reasons, there could be no turning back.
Sounds too good to be true. I'm wondering how many many would turn off their fertility, only to later learn they can't turn it back on.