MICROMANIPULATION OF BOVINE EMBRYOS FOR SEX DETERMINATION

All sectors of the cattle industry derive economic benefit from the ability to determine the sex of calves before pregnancy is established. The benefits are maximized by sexing embryos during routine transfer from superovulated donors, and are now being realized in a variety of commercial applications. Methods are described that allow the removal of small biopsies (four to ten cells) from cattle embryos in less than two minutes without compromising developmental potential. The biopsies can be used for sex determination, or indeed for analysis of any production trait marker. The sectioned embryos can be frozen successfully, further enhancing the commercial utility of the biopsy procedure as a routine production tool.