From the observation of nature to the diversion of a biological function and the conception of a simple biotechnological tool for sexual and reproductive health, Andro-switch is the result of a multidisciplinary reflection firmly rooted in the living matter. Making testicle lifting your own for contraceptive purposes or simply out of pleasure or personal choice is an approach based on a few developments informed by the living matter.
Biohacking
The word hacker is used in its original meaning, to find new and sensible ways to do things within the frame of participatory biology. Brushing your teeth is already an act of biohacking. Some bodily functions seem out of our conscious control: digestion, heart rate... But what about spermatogenesis? Just like you can control your breath or practice mental visualisation, it is possible to modify some functions that seem out of reach. And spermatogenesis can be regulated when intentionally and naturally exposed to heat. By optimising the process of maintaining the testes in the inguinal sack without any specific underwear, Andro-switch is one of the tools that make fertility control accessible.
Biomimicry
Did you know that the position of the testes varies from one mammal to the other? Elephants, for instance, have their testicles in their abdominal cavity, while the testicles of the otter are in the inguinal sack. For some rodents, they only get out of the abdominal cavity during mating season, when their volume increases. One hypothesis that would require confirmation is that testicle lifting with a contraceptive purpose was always envisioned in the living world.
Some species have evolved from ancestors whose testicles were external, yet their testicles are now inside the abdomen, which is the case of hedgehogs and dolphins for example. Why do the testicles lie in a sack that is offset from the rest of the body in humans? A matter of temperature, of seduction through display, to be able to run faster or due to the increased abdominal pressure resulting from bipedalism? In the natural world, the retention of the testes in the inguinal sack is perfectly normal and natural. And the thermal ring makes this practice achievable and accessible.
Law of universal gravitation
How could the testicles move away from the rest of the body to maintain a lower temperature without the force of gravity? The cremaster muscle is a muscular structure that covers the testicles. Its function is to raise and lower the scrotum in order to regulate the temperature of the testes to promote optimal spermatogenesis, which can only occur if the temperature is 1.5°C lower than that of the body. The cremaster muscle is one of the elements that make natural thermal regulation of the testes possible. Without the force of gravity, the testicles aren’t lowered any more when the cremaster muscle relaxes. The direct action of the thermal ring and other testicle-lifting devices is to generate an antigravity force locally, which then creates a natural holding of the testicles.
The torus
Just like other species, humans create tools based on their level of knowledge, their biotope and the constraints they are exposed to. Tori are found in the most peculiar places: in the form of red cells, in the expanding gases of fragmented stars, and so on. This geometrical shape close to the doughnut, simple and recurring in nature, was the obvious choice. The thermal ring designed to hold the testicles up is simply an external prosthesis based on the observation of nature’s mathematics.
Here are some additional information on the topic for your perusal: