Dr. Carl Djerassi spent his day at Appalachian State on Monday, giving three talks on the topics of birth control production, fiction writing, scientist egos and in his words, “stiff pricks.” 

Djerassi, known to many as the father of the pill, gave his first speech in the CAP Building.  He detailed the process of chemically synthesizing hormones that led to production of an orally-active contraceptive. 

Originally, cholesterol was used to synthesize progesterone, a hormone released naturally by the female body which stops ovulation during pregnancy.  Unfortunately, using cholesterol was expensive.  In addition to the cost, the cholesterol was taken from male urine. 

“The scientists collected thousands of gallons of urine, and the result was very smelly and complicated,” said Djerassi. 

Eventually, Dr. R. E. Marker found a chemical in a plant in Mexico which could be turned into progesterone relatively easily.  This dropped the cost of progesterone significantly. 

Now that progesterone was cheaper, its main drawback lay in its inability to be activated orally.  Thus, it had to be injected. When Djerassi joined Syntex, the company Marker formed to produce progesterone, he worked to synthesize estrogen.  Djerassi’s success with estrogen was followed by the synthesis of several other new chemicals, including one synthesized in 1951, called norethindrone. 

Norethindrone combines chemical attributes of estrogen, testosterone and progesterone.  Most importantly, it is orally active. 

In 1957, the FDA permitted the use of norethindrone to aid with menstrual problems.  In 1960, the FDA permitted its use as an oral contraception. 

Djerassi emphasized the achievement saying, “The day before [norethindrone’s synthesis], there was no oral contraceptive in the world.” 

According to Djerassi, the birth control pill is now the most popular method of contraception for unmarried women in the United States.  For married women, it is second only to sterilization. 

Djerassi’s second talk was in Rankin Science Building.  This talk dealt with various eccentricities within the scientific community, especially its egoism and tribal nature. 

He observed that many in the scientific community are “not paying attention to the general public, so the general public is not paying much attention to [the scientific community].” 

One of the only pseudonyms in science is Nicholas Bourbaki, whose last name appears in the title of one of Djerassi’s books. 

Bourbaki was not just a man.  In fact, he was several men.  In 1934, the top mathematicians of France worked together to publish their ideas under the name Nicholas Bourbaki.  The reason was that name recognition was only a consideration for them when that recognition came from their equals.  In their opinion, there were no mathematical equals outside of France, so the world may as well know them by a fictional name. 

Djerassi’s third and final talk was in Farthing Auditorium.  The talk, entitled “Sex in an Age of Mechanical Reproduction,” revolved around his latest play “An Immaculate Misconception” and the social and ethical questions facing society as both contraception and conception become easier and more effective. 

“For the last 50 years, the catch word has been contraception, for the next 50 years the catch word will be conception,” said Djerassi. This is primarily due to the success of a new process known as ICSI, which was first successfully performed in 1992. 

ICSI involves injection of sperm directly into an egg.  This process bypasses problems related to immature sperm, to the point that sperm from recently dead men can be used to fertilize eggs. 

In the play, Djerassi theorizes that ISCI could lead to men and women storing their sperm and eggs in banks.  Then, they would have operations to be sterilized, thus ending the need for contraception.  A woman could choose to become pregnant at anytime. 

In response to a later question, Djerassi said “You cannot make abortion illegal [because it increases maternal death rates], so you must make it unnecessary.”  The combination of ISCI and sterilization makes abortion unnecessary. 

On the topic of a oral contraceptive for men, Djerassi said, “There will be no pill for men within the next 10 years.”  He feels this way because while pharmaceutical companies are working on oral contraceptives for women, their focus for men is on ending erection disfunction and creating “stiff pricks.” 

Djerassi generally avoided taking sides on the various topics.  To those who were pro-science, he presented ethical considerations.  To the science wary, he presented benefits.  To all students in attendance, he presented free books.