LumiSort incorporates a novel and innovative instrument design that removes technical limitations to the speed of sorting and the viability of the product. Both the conventional semen sexing technology and LumiSort move sperm cells in a fluid stream at high velocity past a laser based detection zone one cell at a time, analyzing each cell individually, to determine if the cell is “female” (bearing an X chromosome) or “male” (bearing a Y chromosome). However, LumiSort's sex detection method, while based on established and field-proven dyes, is more sensitive and efficient, leading to low numbers of indeterminate cells and high processing speeds. After the sex of cells is determined by the instrument, the cells of the undesired sex are functionally removed from the preparation using a high-powered laser that damages them, leaving them infertile. Cells of the desired sex pass through untouched, and experience none of the damaging pressure, velocity, or electric field effects that form the basis of conventional cell sorting technology.
LumiSort User Benefits
- High fertility
- More straws per semen collection
- Fast processing rates
- Simplified installation and operation
Technology
In preparation for sexing, sperm cells are stained with a DNA-binding fluorescent dye, which emits light when excited by a laser. An X-chromosome containing cell (female) has more DNA than a Y-chromosome containing cell (male) and therefore is brighter (see Fig. 1). The difference in brightness between X- and Y-chromosome containing cells, although small, is enough to reliably distinguish the cells. LumiSort uses a specialized optical system designed to determine the sex with high precision, desite the unique shape and random orientation of sperm cells as they pass through the detection region of the instrument.
Once the sex of cells is determined, desired- and undesired-sex cells must be separated. While the existing technology uses rate-limiting droplet-based sorting to separate cells one by one, LumiSort simply incapacitates undesired cells using a laser pulse (see Fig. 2).
These technology differences lead to substantial advantages:
- High production rate, with a target throughput of 100,000 cells per second
- Precise sex determination independent of cell shape and orientation, minimizing losses due to indeterminate results.
- Better quality of product by minimizing cell damage:
- Cells are continuously carried in fluid, with no sudden pressure or velocity changes
- Cells of the desired sex are not affected by droplet charging or sorting
- Fast processing rates maximize the number of sexed straws per collection
LumiSort technology has been designed to maximize cell viability by ensuring gentle processing conditions. Further, the instrument is designed with the AI industry in mind to be easily operated with straightforward training, and to be compatible with use in a range of ordinary processing-lab environments eliminating the need for specialized air filtration or environmental controls. Operational control of the instruments will be in the hands of the licensee allowing the user to customize the final product to meet their needs.
Market Background
The Artificial Insemination (AI) industry is mature in Western markets and developing rapidly in emerging markets. Breeding programs almost always favour offspring of one sex: quality milk producing females for the dairy industry, and meat producing males for the beef industry. The dairy market is the largest potential semen sexing opportunity, in which 85% of the industry purchases semen from one of approximately forty regional semen distributors. This market generates approximately US$ 1.5B in semen sales annually. Beef AI semen revenues are smaller but are growing globally.
AI and the benefits of sexed semen are well understood by farmers, as are the limitations of the currently available sexed semen products. As a result, users are pressuring suppliers to provide better sexed semen products with fertility performance comparable to conventional unsexed semen. Semen distributors are seeking a more efficient technology that will increase sexed semen yields and quality while reducing operational complexity and cost. LumiSort delivers that potential.
Sexed semen has been in the market on a commercial basis for over a decade selling at a premium price – more than double that of unsexed semen. The relatively low conception rates achieved with this product render it useful in only select applications – primarily with virgin heifers. This means that only about one third of the potential dairy market for sexed semen can be served. Further, only a very small portion of the beef market is using sexed semen because of similar concerns about cost and fertility. Market research has suggested that a technology delivering sperm sexed to 90% purity, with conception rates approaching those of unsexed semen, will convert up to 50% of the dairy market within 3-5 years of market launch.
Microbix has signed agreements with companies that sell over 40 million straws of semen annually. These companies alone represent a market of over $900M for sexed semen. LumiSort technology continues to attract interest from additional semen providers. As the technology nears the final stages of commercialization, the Company has reactivated licensing discussions and expects to more than double the number of straws under license over the next two years.
Microbix Biosystems Inc., a public company based in Toronto, trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol MBX. For more information, visit http://microbix.com/.