A Novel Clinical Test to Determine the Fertility in Boars

University of Missouri System: University of Missouri-Columbia
posted on 06/17/2011

• request more info 
•   
•  LICENSE ONLINE

Pork is the most consumed meat in the world. Over 100 million tons of pork meat is produced every year and there are two billion living domestic pigs at any given time. The U.S. and the EU constitute a third of the production, and almost all piglets born there are the result of artificial insemination. It is critical that the boars selected for breeding have high quality sperm so that the success rate of fertilization is high and insemination results in frequent and large litters.

The current invention developed by researchers at the University of Missouri is a specific sperm binding test that will enable the user to better predict the fertility of boars. The test will enable the technician to identify boars with a high count of functional sperm which should be able to bind the egg. The test is higher in sensitivity than those tests that focus on sperm motility. Thus, this test will decrease the amount of effort and expense spent to identify animals with low fertility. Use of higher fertility boars will result in an increase in litter frequency and size, and thereby increase profitability and competitiveness in the pork industry.

• Fertility testing of boars for the pork industry
  
• Might be adapted for other species

• Identifies pigs with subtler fertility defects
  
• Saves time and money wasted on low fertility animals
  
• Makes it easier to select highly productive boars for breeding
  
• Easy, practical, fast and reproducible test