There is hope on the horizon for infertile men with news of the discovery of gene mutations linked to male infertility possibly leading to a male contraceptive - and new fertility treatments.

WebMD is reporting the mutations discovered make it hard for a gene to make a protein essential for normal sperm movement, possibly inhibiting male fertility.

The gene, called CATSPER1, may well prove a productive avenue for male infertility solutions – while blocking the gene could possibly be a way of creating a male contraceptive say the researchers.

However, don’t hold your breath for a male birth control pill any time soon say the researchers, who published their results in the American Journal of Human Genetics.

That’s because the research is at a very early stage according to University of Iowa researcher Michael Hildebrand, PhD.

"If we were to develop any therapy for people with infertility or if we were to consider male contraceptives ... we would still need to do studies in animal models to make sure the approach is both safe and effective -- and only then could we test it in humans," he said.

The process will take “at least a couple of years to complete the animal studies and then it would be additional years beyond that for clinical trials," Dr Hildebrand said.

Some preliminary work has already been done on the possibility of a male contraceptive says Dr Hildebrand to WebMD.

"Both human and mice sperm treated with this particular antibody [were] associated with reduced fertility – those sperm are not as able to fertilise an egg, at least not in a laboratory.”