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’

Read it at National Geographic

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