Scientists have found a way to make sure that the sperm that will make a boy are the first to reach the egg.
The egg is the carrier of the X chromosome, the female principle, figuratively speaking. Sperm - symbolizes the masculine principle. But it can carry both the male Y-chromosome and the female - X.
"Male" and "female" sperm in the semen are approximately equal. That turns the process of finding sex into a kind of toss.
The combination of XX leads to the birth of a girl, A XY - a boy. A girl is obtained when a sperm with an X chromosome is introduced into the egg. Boy - if the carrier of the Y chromosome is in place of the "female" sperm.
It was believed that "male" and "female" spermatozoa are not different in appearance. And if so, then it is impossible to separate one from the other. But as Japanese doctors from the University of Hiroshima (Hiroshima University in Japan), led by Professor Masayuki Shimada, found out, there is still a difference - in the proteins on the outer shell of sperm and, accordingly, in the genes that encode them.
Having understood one thing, the Japanese have selected chemicals that bind exclusively to the proteins of the membrane of the sperm, carrying the X chromosome. They "cling" to two of them and slow down movement. As a result, the "male" spermatozoa - carriers of the Y-chromosome - reach the egg faster than their artificially inhibited counterparts, are introduced and provide the XY combination, which leads to the conception of a boy.
The sex of the unborn child is determined by the sperm that first reaches the egg.
Experimenting with mice and rats, Masayuki Shimada and colleagues, using chemical brakes, achieved the birth of male offspring in 90 cases out of 100.
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In the future, the Japanese could create a kind of gel that would provide an advantage to carriers of Y chromosomes in the simplest way. It will be enough to smear them on the site of the sperm races. That is, inject into the vagina just before intercourse.
Those who want to give birth to a girl will have a harder time. Here you need to somehow separate the slow - female - sperm from the fast - male. And deliver it closer to the womb. Or even straight into it.
In experiments, such tricks brought success in 81 cases out of 100.
Sperm sorting certainly has its opponents. They believe that "interference in internal affairs" will lead to a demographic imbalance. Especially in countries where boys are preferred over girls. In the sense of offspring.
Some only want boys. Someone wants girls. And someone is generally afraid of pregnancy.
VLADIMIR LAGOVSKY