Oct 13, 2001

Chalk up another first for Fort Collins-based XY Inc.

Australian scientists, using XY's technology for gender selection in animals, have bred the first sex-selected sheep.

Previously, XY has bred cattle and horses with the exclusive process.

Researchers at the University of Sydney produced 25 lambs with the XY system, in which sperm is sorted to separate the female-producing X chromosomes from the male-producing Y chromosomes. The sorted sperm is then used to artificially inseminate an egg.

XY holds a worldwide license for the sex-selection technology in non-human mammals.

The Australian team achieved a 96 percent success rate in producing the desired genders, which is "phenomenal," Mervyn Jacobson, president and chief executive officer of XY, said Friday.

"We typically aim to achieve 90 percent or better," Jacobson said. "In science, you can never promise 100 percent."

XY Inc. believes the pre-selection process will have commercial appeal, because animal breeders want certain genders of livestock for certain results.

In the case of sheep, operators want female lambs for breeding and more male lambs to produce superior rams.

"For example, stud breeders who want high-quality rams for superior wool production want only to produce rams from the best females," said Chis Maxwell, who led the Australian research team.

In Australia, the wool and mutton industry is second only to cattle in agricultural export sales. An estimated 120 million sheep and lambs are raised there.

Jacobson said he couldn't estimate the market potential for sex-selection process in the sheep industry. In the horse industry, he estimates a $300 million market in the United States alone.

Meanwhile, XY is also working with German scientists to apply the sex selection technique for breeding pigs, Jacobson said.

XY Inc. is a collaborative venture between Fort Collins-based Cytomation Inc., which makes cell sorting instruments, and Colorado State University.

-- © Copyright 2001, the Fort Collins Coloradoan