It occured to me that birth control could be automatic

visualize an oocyte after meeting a sperm it blocks other sperm If the tiny thing that started the oocytes sperm blocking chemistry were a motile bacteria like a spirochete then the vaginal bacteria would reach the egg first passivating the oocyte blocking pregnancy

Motile chemotactic bacteria exist, common selective breeding of these bacteria to seek the surface chemistry of an oocyte is rapid as hundreds of billions of bacteria are at every petri dish; just add mutagens to create an oocyte seeking spirochete

When people want to have children on purpose: a drug specific to the bacteria could then remove the spirochete permitting conception; people do their sexy intercourse thing yet children are always conceived on purpose

Thus a nation with a one child policy could have a widely distributed bacteria that prevented millions or hundreds of millions of nonplanned pregnancies.

Nations vary, If a nation gave a 3000$ bonus to persons choosing to parent above the age of 23 or even 27 the quality of the parenting as well as the living knowledge of the parents would be greater; Freakonomics suggests crime was reduced as a result of abortion with a 23 or 27 year age of parenting crime would be much reduced as well as social opportunity grown

If China with it one child policy truly went from 1.4 billion to 700 million the eventual resource saving rival that of an entire Unite States thus an automatic bacteria terminates pregnancy is currently valued as well as environmentally beneficial

notably this bacterial genome if attached to a virus could create recurring automatic presence always preventing unplanned pregnancy
-- beanangel, Sep 04 2008

"children of men" http://en.wikipedia...iki/Children_of_Men
[williamsmatt, Oct 02 2008]

Well thought out idea. However i must [-] due to my fear that the bacteria might develop resistance to the 'conception drug' designed to kill it, thus creating a widespread total infertility STD.
-- gomer, Sep 05 2008


90% of all the cells in the space occupied by a human body are actually nonhuman bacterial cells. Most of all those cells of all types coexist in symbiosis. Perhaps one of those bacterial types could be recruited for this purpose.
-- Vernon, Sep 05 2008


So, parenthood would become opt-in rather than opt-out? I like it.
-- pertinax, Sep 05 2008


This is way over my head but I think you are talking about a bacteria that mimics what the first sperm is supposed to do, block further sperm, so I like it, though [gomer] has a point, so I will abstain till you have a rebuttal.
-- MisterQED, Sep 05 2008


/a drug specific to the bacteria/ or penicillin, or any one of a host of other antibiotics? Not sure this is safe, either when it works (chronic, transmissible bacterial infection, causing temporary infertility) or when it doesn't (unplanned pregnancies). Novel idea, but I suggest it is not feasible in reality.

Limit parents to those above the age of 27? Female fertility drops pretty rapidly from there on out, and the chance of certain genetic defects increases rapidly. 23, maybe, but humans are simply designed to have children while fairly young, modern career pressures notwithstanding.
-- david_scothern, Sep 06 2008


// but humans are simply designed to have children while fairly young//
What a stupid design authority.
-- coprocephalous, Sep 06 2008


"yo gonna put spirographs in ma WHAT??"
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Sep 06 2008


Dunno, isn't this genetic modification? (i.e. 'just add mutagens')

Granted, you added a bunch of details around that, but you could also just add mutagens to a woman to allow them to seal up their oocytes in a little pouch, only released to the attentions of visiting sperm via activation of a new oocyte-pouch muscle. This way fertility can be controlled purely through mental will.
-- mylodon, Sep 07 2008


Every known bacteria is curable. A concern here might be that only the richest 9/10 of the planet would bother with the conception permitting drug; one dose of erythromycin cures Gonorrhea at less than a dollar; a conception permitting drug might be like that

Also, if it hopped species the other primates might not know to look for ConceiveNow at their local Rite-Aid

regarding a good way to render the entire species infertile: As a recurring silent infection Using a virus genome attached to a bacterial genome with a two start regions does create a DNA sequence that makes either 1) a virus or 2) a bacteria or 3) a virus plus bacterial nontranslated genome or 4) a bacteria plus a nontranslated virus genome

If you place a repeating fragile region between two start codons on a virus plus bacterial genome then a certain number of the noncurable viruses will actually specify the bacteria that precludes conception while keeping both genomes at the virus

an easier way to render the entire species infertile would be to create a noncurable herpes virus with potent sperm allergen sensitization Even with rare annual flare ups under viral medication the immune system would be primed to destroy sperm
-- beanangel, Oct 01 2008


the outcomes of this idea is baked, at least in movie form. refer link. worth watching.
-- williamsmatt, Oct 02 2008


I like the idea. The risks associated with it make it dangerous for use on humans, humanoids, and possibly all mammals. However, you may have stumbled upon a new and very effective form of pest control, or a final solution to eradicating invasive species.
-- ye_river_xiv, Oct 02 2008



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