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February 28, 2006
John Schenk
XY Inc.
970-224-0507
XY Inc. Researchers Among Select Few to Have Poster Chosen for Presentation at Major North American Embryo Transfer Meeting
FORT COLLINS, COLO.-XY Inc. scientists are among a select group of
international researchers to have their research poster chosen for
presentation at the joint annual meeting of the American and Canadian Embryo Transfer Associations.
XY Inc. researchers John Schenk, Elizabeth Crichton and Steven
Huffman authored a poster based on their research pertaining to the use of sexed sperm with lactating Holstein cows.
In January, Schenk and Crichton presented their results at the
annual meeting of the prestigious International Embryo Transfer Society. Of the nearly 400 posters selected for display at IETS, the XY Inc. poster was one of only a few to be chosen for the upcoming North American joint
conference to be held Oct. 5-7 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
The recommended use of sexed sperm has been limited to heifers. The XY Inc. poster reported the results of a field trial conducted with 172 lactating Holstein cows approaching 80 days in milk (DIM) to determine pregnancy rates, following AI with cryopreserved sorted sperm. The study compared doses of 2 million and 10 million frozen, thawed sexed sperm with a conventional AI dose of 10 million frozen, thawed unsexed sperm.
The study showed the pregnancy rate in lactating cows inseminated with sexed sperm was not significantly lower than that of unsexed sperm. However, the researchers cautioned the numbers of cows used in their study were limited, and the findings applied only to normal cycling cows that have reached approximately 80 DIM.
"XY Inc. continues to advocate the use of sexed sperm be limited to
heifers," Schenk said. "Meanwhile, large-scale lactating-cow field trials
with sexed sperm are in progress."
XY Inc., based in Fort Collins, Colo., has emerged as the world leader in
the research, development and commercialization of sex-selection techniques in non-human mammals, including cattle, horses, pigs and endangered species.
For more information, contact: John Schenk, XY Inc. laboratory,
970-224-0507; or email: jschenk@xyinc.com.