Award details

The impact of sexual dimorphism on reproduction and health

Reference	BBS/E/D/20221656
Principal Investigator / Supervisor	Professor Helen Sang
Co-Investigators / Co-Supervisors
Institution	University of Edinburgh
Department	The Roslin Institute
Funding type	Research
Value (£)	1,476,047
Status	Completed
Type	Institute Project
Start date	01/04/2012
End date	31/03/2017
Duration	59 months

Abstract

In all livestock systems, one sex is more productive: male animals are often more suited for meat production, while female animals may be used for breeding stock, eggs and milk. In each case, the more productive sex is required in greater numbers. This is well illustrated by the poultry industry, where chicks of egg-laying strains are sexed on the day of hatch and only the females retained while poultry meat producers are forced to accept the relative inefficiency of raising an equal number of slower growing females (males outweigh females by as much as 35% at age of sale). Obviously, the capability to manipulate the sex-ratio of birds raised would be a major benefit to the poultry industry and significantly increase food production. For all livestock species, an ability to carry out sex selection and/or mitigate the impact of gender on productivity would substantially increase reproductive efficiency, reduce waste and alleviate welfare concerns associated with culling the less useful gender. This project aims to address these issues by applying our understanding of the mechanisms underlying sexual development to devise means of manipulating sex ratios, and to increase reproductive efficiency by improving follicle selection. Understanding of the processes controlling the generation of healthy sperm and oocytes lies at the core of fertility and we will determine key features of germ cell development to facilitate in vitro production of gametes.

Summary

unavailable

Committee	Not funded via Committee
Research Topics	Animal Welfare
Research Priority	X – Research Priority information not available
Research Initiative	X - not in an Initiative
Funding Scheme	X – not Funded via a specific Funding Scheme

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