For years, the responsibility of controlling pregnancy has mainly rested in the hands of a woman, but that soon may change.

The Population Council's Center for Biomedical Research is testing a drug called Adjudin with the hopes of creating the first male birth control. Research results published at the end of October showed promising results when tested on rats but is still a long way from being tested in humans.

"It was kind of a mistake," said Gina Duclayan, senior science writer at the Population Science Council. She said researchers in Italy were researching it as a cancer drug and noticed that the men given the drug became infertile. They called Chuen-yan Cheng of the Population Council's Center for Biomedical Research to lead studies on developing the drug into a suitable contraceptive for males.

"It didn't prevent development of sperm but allowed it to be released before the cells matured and could fertilize an egg," she said.

She said when they tested Adjudin in rodents they found that a small subset of animals had toxic reactions when given the drug orally in large doses. But, when injected in lower doses and combined with a synthetic version of the sex hormone FSH (follicle-stimulating hormone) it had no negative side effects such as causing irreversible fertility. They also found that sperm count was back to normal after two months of discontinuation of the pill, she said.

"It doesn't reduce sex drive, muscle mass or characteristics people tend to think of as masculine," Duclayan said. She said the only question is if men would want to use an injection given about every three months. They are in the process of doing studies to see how men would rather have it delivered, she said.

"I think it's a good idea to be safer. I'd take it in the form of a pill, as long as it's safe and effective," Ryan Inzana (senior-accounting) said.

If the drug proves to be effective in humans it could be on the market in as early as five years, Duclayan said.

"Male contraceptives would have a place in the total family planning approach," said Ronald Swerdloff, professor of medicine and chief of endocrinology at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center (LA BioMed).

Swerdloff said the research published in April at LA BioMed found that sperm production could be inhibited by androgen or androgen-progestagen treatment combinations, similar to how hormone treatment in women suppresses ovulation. With this hormone treatment, no sperm in ejaculate can be achieved, but it is reversible, taking about three months to produce sperm again, he said.

"Right now we're trying to determine the best means of taking the medicine and finding drugs that could be used commercially. We're in a good position right now, but we're waiting for the perfect product," Swerdloff said. He added that the drug would not be able to get it on the market until a pharmaceutical company thinks the product will be viable to them.

"My guess is that it will be offered as injectable first," he said.

Since the androgen or androgen-progesterone treatment has been tested in humans, side effects of the drug found have been increased acne, red blood cell count and local irritation. The long-term administration of the treatment to healthy males is also undetermined and probably will not be until after it is on the market, he said.

"It is always difficult to know for certain what is acceptable until you have the final product. This would be appealing to existing relationships. There are men who would like to feel more comfortable with their own protection," Swerdloff said.

The World Health Organization estimates that there are between 8 million and 30 million unplanned pregnancies a year that result from inconsistent or incorrect use of contraceptive methods, or from method failure. The only birth control options available to males now are condoms, vasectomy and withdrawal.

"Women have to deal with menstruation and birth and that [male contraceptive] would be one less thing for us to have to worry about," Jenna Gill (sophomore-marketing) said.