Progress of sex control techniques in mammals†

Area of Science:

• Animal Science
• Reproductive Biology
• Biotechnology

Background:

• Controlling offspring sex is crucial for animal production efficiency.
• Current sex control methods in mammals involve pre-fertilization sperm processing or post-fertilization embryo sexing.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review and compare existing sex control techniques in mammals.
• To highlight advancements in molecular and cell biology for sex determination.

Main Methods:

• Spermatozoa processing: separation based on X and Y sperm characteristics.
• Early embryo sexing: invasive (karyotyping, PCR, FISH) and non-invasive (metabolomics, genetic reporters) methods.
• Immunological separation using TLR7/8 signaling pathway activation.

Main Results:

• Various sperm separation methods exploit physical and chemical differences between X and Y spermatozoa.
• Embryo sexing techniques include genetic (PCR, LAMP, FISH) and biochemical (enzyme, antigen) assays.
• Novel methods like metabolomics and genetic reporter labeling offer non-invasive approaches.

Conclusions:

• Molecular and cell biology innovations are driving the development of effective sex control technologies.
• These advancements hold significant potential to enhance animal production and breeding strategies.