Your Genes and Birth Control

An assistant professor from the University of Colorado School of Medicine wrote an article about your genes may effect how well your birth control works. Nicole Wetsman covered the article in Popular Science. The first study the professor did, he found that some gene variants metabolize a common hormone in birth control much faster causing the concentration to be reduced and not work as well. The scientists and doctors sequenced 14 genes and found that those with a variance in the gene CYP3A7 had 23% lower concentration of etonogestrel which mimics progesterone. Though when using the implant there was still enough of the hormone to prevent pregnancy due to how high the concentration in the implant is. They determined that if someone using a pill which has a significantly lower amount of etonogestrel, missed a single pill could lead to a pregnancy much easier. Though due to how the gene uses the hormones another person who misses one pill it could have no affect at all. The study has a lot more research to be done, but it can lead to less negativity when a woman gets pregnant and says that she used her birth control correctly.

This is a good study for all women to be looking at if they are considering using birth control. The study points out that all birth control is different and it is a trial and error type situation but if you were to find out that you have the variation in that specific gene, you would know to choose the implant or a birth control with higher amount of etonogestrel. They will continue to study all types of birth control so that eventually, you could be told which will work best for you. I think this is great because not only will it help prevent unplanned pregnancies but it will also help eliminate the side effects that can be experienced.

New Reasons why Crocs are a Better Birth Control

The Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries in Berlin has noticed a peculiar trend. Male amphibians are being exposed to an extreme amount of synthetic hormones, skewing the ratio of males and females, and causing a decrease in population.

It turns out that the main ingredient of the pill is 17a-Ethinylestradiol (EE2), an aestrogenic endocrine disrupting chemicals (EEDCs). It is completely man made and because of such, waste plants cant completely remove the hormone from urine. Thus it returns back to natural water supplies. ln the three species accounted for in this study, sex reversal occurred in 15 to 100 percent in the males.
Also another study in small mouth bass, 85% displayed the synthetic hormone inducing "inter-sex" as cause for decreasing population. Ecologists are starting to become anti-pill for such reasons. It has been around for decades, yet presently"..more than 100 million women use the pill." With that huge magnitude it is understandable how water is being affected, and how ecological damage is surmounting.

This led me to wonder what they effects are for humans, since this synthetic hormone may also remain in our water. Even if it is in small amounts, could this be a reason that youth appear to be going through puberty earlier?

If I put a real picture of me the point would be proven more, but I didn't want to do that to you guys.
It would be interesting to have data regarding the presence of EEDC's in water sources, as well as what level promotes a reaction, and if synthetic hormones incite maturation. I believe more research should be invested into to ensuring better ingredients, to allow women to still have control over their bodies yet in a more sustainable, natural way.

Spay, Neuter, or Shot? How an Injection could be the Future of Animal Control

     A new way of animal control different from spaying and neutering; injection. But do not be fooled, for this injection is not like normal contraceptive shots. Through the works of Bruce Hay and Juan Li of the California Institute of Technology, they injected mice with foreign DNA so as they would produce antibodies that would attack reproductive hormones. The shot is administered into the muscles of the mice, which after two months resulted in infertile mice. 

     The main hormone that is targeted is gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH). GnRH is produced in the brain and acts upon the pituitary glans to promote secretions to stimulate egg and sperm development. Juan Li, the first author, took the anti-GnRH gene and packaged it inside the shell of an aden-associated virus. This virus commonly infects mammals, but does not cause any symptoms. The manipulated virus is then injected into the muscles of the mice where the DNA is “unpackaged” and then used to create antibody factories. The benefit of injecting into the muscles is that muscle cells do not turn over. Therefore, the production of the wanted antibody will continue for years at a time as opposed to monthly injections like other birth control shot methods. 

     In addition to the injection, Hay and his lab blocked fertility in female mice using another antibody that binds to the protein layer called the zone pellucida, which surrounds the egg cells. This blocks the sperm from binding to the egg cells all the while not affecting the female hormonal cycle. 

     The importance of this process is that it saves time and money. Spaying and neutering feral animals includes the capture of the animal, anesthetizing the animal, performing the surgery on the animal, and then the time for them to recover. 

The next question that comes along with this is can this be a new, permanent form of contraception for humans? The answer is not quite yet. As Hay puts it, “It’s a long road to develop any new drugs, but it might someday provide an alternative to current, surgical methods of permanent contraception.” 

     In the meantime this method is being tested with female feral cats in collaboration with Bill Swanson, Director of animal Research at the Cincinnati Zoo’s Center for Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildlife.

    Personally, I feel that this would be a very effective way to population control in the animals that need it. In New Jersey (especially South Jersey), there is an awful deer population issue as well as an awful feral cat issue. Although hunting is a way to control deer, the cats keep reproducing even with the efforts of spaying and neutering the wild ones that can be captured. It amazes me how far genetic work has come to where scientists are able to take a virus and manipulate it then inject a gene that they want to be expressed into an animal. Also, the fact that this method could one day be used for humans is remarkable seeing as there would be no costly surgery involved.

Original Article

Related Article

Birth control shot

New trend: Birth control shot. Convenient alternative for women who do not want to remember to take the daily pill, however, research shows that the pill may be doing more damage than good. On November 1, 2011 an article posted in ScienceDaily, connects medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA), the hormone active in the birth control shot Depo Provera, and many widely used menopausal hormone therapies, to impaired memory in rodents. The Bimonte-Nelson lab first linked MPA to memory loss in rats while studying it as a component of hormone therapy for menopause. The study lasted approximately a year, using three groups of rats, plus a control group that did not receive the hormone. The first group only received MPA as young adults, to model birth control. The second only received it post-menopausal to model hormone therapy. The third group received it at both young adulthood and maturity, to model women who used it for birth control and as a post-menopausal hormone therapy. Results showed that animals that had been given the drug at any point in their life were memory impaired at middle age compared to animals that never had the drug. One of the lead researchers stated, “You really cannot understand aging without understanding menopause or reproductive senescence, because hormones change as aging ensues. As well, you cannot talk about aging and cognition and gain insight into those dynamic and interrelated changes without acknowledging that both hormones and aging have such a profound effect on the brain and its function.” This study is currently in process and results are pending.


Researcherss Blair Braden and Heather Bimonte-Nelson in the lab.