Thursday, July 15, 2010

Welsh firm makes pig breeding breakthrough

A Welsh company has discovered a way for livestock breeders to pre-select the sex of pigs and cattle. A report in the Welsh Country magazine said Ovasort Limited found sex-linked proteins on the surface of sperm cells in cattle and pigs, and created a prototype that can identify and separate female and male cells.
This discovery was supported with funding by the Welsh Assembly Government and access to proteomics and genomics labs at Cardiff University. This scientific breakthrough is the first time semen sexing has been possible for pigs in the commercial marketplace. It is expected to enter field trials in late summer by Danish Pig Production.

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