Already in adolescence, Bambang Eko Parjogo Wardojo dreamed of inventing a way to control the world population explosion. His determination has paid off. At 54 years, Professor of Pharmacology and Phytochemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Airlangga University, Surabaya, is now legal inventor of the contraceptive pill based gendarusse (Justicia gendarussa).
Seven years after having filed the patent. For him the culmination of a lifetime. The gendarusse is a plant that grows in bush in the lowland plains. It can reach two meters in height. Its stem is black or green leaves and a bright purple, inclining to brown. In Indonesia, it is commonly used, empirically, in the countryside to treat migraines, rheumatism and pain.
And the Philippines the juice of its leaves is given for cough and asthma. But it has other virtues. Block the sperm of the active gendarusse the gendarusine, has the peculiarity to inhibit hyaluronidase, an enzyme secreted by sperm. This enzyme is involved at a very precise: when the sperm comes into contact with the egg.
This substance produced by the gamete function is to dissolve the wall of the egg. "If the activity of this enzyme is inhibited, the sperm can not penetrate the egg," said Bambang. By neutralizing the activity of hyaluronidase, the gendarusse therefore acts as a male contraceptive. The pill in question, whose production has been entrusted to the Indonesian Indofarma pharmaceutical group, was launched 14 December 2010 by the Office for National Family Planning Coordination.
But we can not even find it in pharmacies. Before the launch on the market, Indofarma must conduct clinical tests on 350 male volunteers. The gendarusse was not the primary source of inspiration for Bambang. In early 1980, during his undergraduate studies in pharmacy, he first did research on bitter gourd (Momordica charantia, also known as Wonder apple or bitter melon).
At that time, Bambang managed to prove in laboratory animals that bitter gourd contained an active ingredient that temporarily reduced the fertility of sperm. He shared the results of his research at the National Congress of Pharmacology in 1983 in Semarang. And finally it is only four years later he became interested in gendarusse.
"This research is conducted in ethnobotany at the University of Gadjah Mada (Yogyakarta) who inspired me. They concerned the traditions surrounding marriage where dowry Papuans is made of low value, "said Bambang. In fact tribal customs and traditions of several ethnic groups in Papua authorize the solemnization of marriages, even if the dowry was not required assembled.
On one condition: the husband has no right to put his pregnant wife as the amount required is not met. In the meantime, it is man, not the woman who uses contraceptives. "To prevent having been fertilized, the husband eats leaves gendarusse," said Bambang. When the dot is finally assembled, the spouse receives the green light and ceases to ingest this plant.
Bambang admitted never to go to Papua, but he studied the traditions of many tribal communities in Indonesia. They know the virtues of plants that grow in their environment while they are unaware of their chemical composition. According to Bambang, the empirical science must be a source of inspiration for researchers.
Bambang's mission is to transform traditional knowledge in modern knowledge. In fact, her contraceptive pill has led several international conferences, notably in Switzerland, in Lausanne, where he defended the right to alternative contraceptive methods, from tropical plants, and for men. 
Seven years after having filed the patent. For him the culmination of a lifetime. The gendarusse is a plant that grows in bush in the lowland plains. It can reach two meters in height. Its stem is black or green leaves and a bright purple, inclining to brown. In Indonesia, it is commonly used, empirically, in the countryside to treat migraines, rheumatism and pain.
And the Philippines the juice of its leaves is given for cough and asthma. But it has other virtues. Block the sperm of the active gendarusse the gendarusine, has the peculiarity to inhibit hyaluronidase, an enzyme secreted by sperm. This enzyme is involved at a very precise: when the sperm comes into contact with the egg.
This substance produced by the gamete function is to dissolve the wall of the egg. "If the activity of this enzyme is inhibited, the sperm can not penetrate the egg," said Bambang. By neutralizing the activity of hyaluronidase, the gendarusse therefore acts as a male contraceptive. The pill in question, whose production has been entrusted to the Indonesian Indofarma pharmaceutical group, was launched 14 December 2010 by the Office for National Family Planning Coordination.
But we can not even find it in pharmacies. Before the launch on the market, Indofarma must conduct clinical tests on 350 male volunteers. The gendarusse was not the primary source of inspiration for Bambang. In early 1980, during his undergraduate studies in pharmacy, he first did research on bitter gourd (Momordica charantia, also known as Wonder apple or bitter melon).
At that time, Bambang managed to prove in laboratory animals that bitter gourd contained an active ingredient that temporarily reduced the fertility of sperm. He shared the results of his research at the National Congress of Pharmacology in 1983 in Semarang. And finally it is only four years later he became interested in gendarusse.
"This research is conducted in ethnobotany at the University of Gadjah Mada (Yogyakarta) who inspired me. They concerned the traditions surrounding marriage where dowry Papuans is made of low value, "said Bambang. In fact tribal customs and traditions of several ethnic groups in Papua authorize the solemnization of marriages, even if the dowry was not required assembled.
On one condition: the husband has no right to put his pregnant wife as the amount required is not met. In the meantime, it is man, not the woman who uses contraceptives. "To prevent having been fertilized, the husband eats leaves gendarusse," said Bambang. When the dot is finally assembled, the spouse receives the green light and ceases to ingest this plant.
Bambang admitted never to go to Papua, but he studied the traditions of many tribal communities in Indonesia. They know the virtues of plants that grow in their environment while they are unaware of their chemical composition. According to Bambang, the empirical science must be a source of inspiration for researchers.
Bambang's mission is to transform traditional knowledge in modern knowledge. In fact, her contraceptive pill has led several international conferences, notably in Switzerland, in Lausanne, where he defended the right to alternative contraceptive methods, from tropical plants, and for men.
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