Robotics screening system developed to test male contraceptive drugs

A robotics screening system, which tests on possible male contraceptive drugs, has been developed by researchers from the University of Dundee (UOD). The screening system, which has already carried out tests on thousands of drugs, functions by using image processing tools and a rapid microscope to track the human sperm accurately, allowing the effects of the drugs to be regulated.
Currently, the condom is the only effective contraceptive for men and researchers believe it will be a revolutionary step forward inequality.
National Phenotypic Screening Centre lead, Dr Paul Andrews, stated: “The conventional way to test drugs for contraceptive activity is prohibitively time consuming. This new system speeds up the process of drug hunting several thousand-fold. The automated system also uses a different method to examine the effects of drugs on a second critical aspect required for fertilisation, called the acrosome reaction. This dual platform now allows for major drug discovery programmes that address the critical gap in the contraceptive portfolio as well as uncover novel human sperm biology. By using live human sperm and examining their behaviour, or phenotype, in the presence of drugs and other chemicals, we hope to circumvent the need to second guess which proteins are important for the cellular processes underlying sperm’s fertilisation capacity.”
Professor of Reproductive Medicine, Dundee’s School of Medicine, Chris Barratt, stated: “This is a breakthrough in technology for the area, it allows us for the first time to assess in large numbers how compounds can affect sperm function. Surprisingly, there has been no effective, reversible and widely available form of contraception developed for the male since the condom and as such, the burden falls largely to the female. Finding an effective male contraceptive would be a major step in addressing that inequality.”