Sexing Technologies’ sex-sorted semen has achieved a comparable conception rate to conventional semen for the first time since becoming commercially available about a decade ago, the company’s head researcher said on Sept. 26.
Dr. Vish Vishwanath told an audience at the National Association of Animal Breeders (NAAB) Technical Conference on Artificial Insemination and Reproduction that sperm sorted using an improved SexedUltra semen sorting process and packaged at a concentration of 4 million cells per straw delivered a conception rate similar to conventional semen packaged at a concentration of 15 million cells per straw during a field trial involving more than 6,000 inseminations.
Vishwanath credits the improved conception rate to improvements in sperm biotechnology, the media that nourishes and invigorates the sperm during the sorting process and improved sorting machine technology.
“Over the past three years, we have continuously worked to improve the SexedUltra semen sorting process in an effort to produce the best sexed semen product possible,” Vishwanath said.
“I believe the results of this first field trial are confirmation that our sorting process is built on very solid technology, and it’s a technology that we’ve invested many years and tens of millions of dollars into in order to continue providing quality products to our customers.”
During the field trial, done in Germany with German Genetics International, researchers inseminated cows with SexedUltra semen products packaged in concentrations of 2 million, 3 million and 4 million cells per straw. All of the concentration levels delivered higher conception rates than past sex-sorted semen, but only the 4 million cell concentration produced results comparable to conventional semen.
There is no timeline for introducing the improved semen sorting process into the commercial A.I. market, Vishwanath said. The next step will be to duplicate the results from the German field trial during further field trials in Europe and the U.S. PD
—From Sexing Technologies news release
