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FAILURE OF SPERM SEDIMENTATION TO INFLUENCE THE SEX RATIO OF RABBITS

Recently there has been a resurgence of interest in the possibility of separating X and Y spermatozoa, following reports by Bhattacharya (1958, 1962) that when cooled to immobility in media of certain viscosity, X spermatozoa of rabbits appear to sediment at a relatively faster rate than Y spermatozoa. Using this principle with a modified medium, Schilling (1966) reported births in cattle which showed a deviation of the sex ratio, but a similar study in cattle failed to achieve any such deviation (Bhattacharya, Bangham, Cro, Keynes & Rowson, 1966).

The present communication reports the results of experiments in rabbits to test the hypothesis that spermatozoa will tend to separate into distinct populations (X and Y) during passive sedimentation in a defined medium.

The apparatus and medium used were essentially those developed and shown to one of us (J.M.B.) by