評論
打印
One approach that's finally becoming a real possibility is better contraceptive options for men. Think about it.
一種即將成為現實的辦法是針對男性的更好的避孕措施。想想吧。
We have over a dozen methods of contraception for women: pills, patches, IUDs, shots, sponges, rings, etc.
我們有數十種女性避孕手段：避孕藥、避孕貼、節育環、避孕針、避孕海綿、陰道環等等。
For men, we've had the same two options for more than a hundred years: condoms and vasectomy.
可對于男性，我們一百多年來都只有兩種選擇：避孕套和輸精管結扎術。
Despite having only two options, both of which have significant drawbacks,
盡管只有兩種選擇，且兩者都有重大缺陷，
men currently account for 30 percent of all contraceptive use,
在所有使用避孕措施的人群中，男性目前占了30%，
with 10 percent of couples relying on vasectomy and 20 percent of couples using condoms.
其中10%的伴侶用的是結扎術，20%用的是避孕套。
Why are 20 percent of couples relying on condoms for contraception when condoms have a one-year failure rate of over 15 percent?
為什么20%的情侶會依賴避孕套來避免懷孕，盡管避孕套一年內的失敗率超過了15%？
It's because many women can't either safely take currently available female contraceptives, for reasons such as blood clots,
這是因為很多女性要么由于血液凝結等原因，無法安全的使用目前提供的女性避孕措施，
or they can't tolerate the side effects.
要么是因為她們無法承受副作用。
So if we think a male contraceptive would be useful, the next question is: How do we go about developing one?
那么如果我們覺得讓男性避孕會很有效，那下一個問題就是：我們該如何研發出這樣一種措施呢？
Well, there's two general approaches.
有兩種大體的方向。
The first approach is to try and interfere with the way the sperm swim towards or bind to the egg.
第一種辦法是嘗試干擾精子移動并與卵子結合的方式。
This approach turns out to be really difficult,
事實上這個辦法難度相當高，
because it's hard to get enough medication in the small volume of the ejaculate
因為射出的精液容量很小，很難讓足量的藥物溶在里面，
and have it still work inside the female reproductive tract.
并且還能在女性的生殖道里工作。
This is why there's been a lot more work done on the second approach, which is turning off sperm production entirely.
這就是為什么更多的研究集中在第二種方式：即直接停止精子的產生。
This is also challenging. Why? Turns out that men make a lot of sperm.
不過這個方法也很有挑戰性。為什么？因為你會發現男性能生產很多精子。
