Although many superstitions claim that trying to have children or feeding certain foods at a given time will determine the sex of the child, they are obviously far from scientific facts. The sperm carries any sex chromosome in terms of X or Y and determines the sex of the child according to the sex chromosome of the sperm reaching the egg as quickly as possible. Although this rate is believed to be 50%, balance may be disrupted, according to a study published a few days ago in PLOS Biology.
The only difference between the X and Y chromosomes is not the size (the X chromosome is about three times longer than the Y chromosome), and both chromosomes have different genes. Hiroshima University. Using these genetic differences, Takashi Umehera and his colleagues managed to change the possibility of offspring in females and males in mice.
Is Receptor Gene Effective?
The researchers focused on the 7/8 Toll-like receptor gene. This gene is activated only in the spermatozoa containing the X chromosome and produces receptors that function in the caudal and central parts of the sperm. The researchers placed mouse sperm in an environment where molecules would bind to and activate these receptors, and as a result of this activation, a reduction in the energy production of X chromosome sperm was observed. In addition, there was no change in the sperm of the Y chromosome. According to the sperm races organized to confirm the results, most of the genetically modified sperm of the X chromosome were able to move as fast as at least half of the sperm of the Y chromosome. As a result of IVF (in vitro fertilization, in vitro fertilization), 90% of mouse pups were born male. When the experiment was repeated with the separation of slow sperm, 81% of the offspring were female.
There are other methods of gender selection. For example, you can stain your semen with a special dye and separate your semen by the length of the sex chromosome. However, these methods are expensive and can in some cases damage sperm or sperm DNA. The separation method can be much more functional and harmless, depending on the speed achieved. For example, this may be useful in breeding dairy cows. However, don’t think that you can choose your child’s gender in the near future, except for ethical considerations, there is no evidence that the same mechanism works in humans.
