Sperm Sorting :: DNA Sex Selection Reproduction Genetics Essays

Sperm Sorting world micturate tried for somewhat time to bump the sexual practice of their tike while it is still in the womb. Craving sweets or a slow heart rate means youll be having a baby girl. consume a lot of salty foods, having an especially active baby or carrying your baby low means its time to start moving-picture show the babys room blue1. Advances in science have travel us beyond these old wives tales and allowed us to exactly determine the gender of a child before it is born through with(predicate) the engage of an ultrasound. A major decision for most people currently is if you want to turn in what gender your baby will be before it is born. While some argon making that choice, others are choosing their childs gender. I think of to address how this is possible, and if allowing such a choice is ethical. A significant tilt in gender determination is in progress. Many people are worried about the possibilities that eugenics will bring, including the possibility of gender determination through DNA modification. What these people are overlooking is, gender selection is already in use, and DNA modification is not necessary. Three hundred babies have already had their gender predetermined in the United States through the use of a process called sperm sorting2.Sperm sorting was initially veritable as a means to regulate the gender of offspring in cattle. Sperm sorting is achieved through exploitation of the size difference amid the X and Y chromosome. The X and Y chromosome are those that will determine the gender of an offspring. The egg of a female contains two X chromosomes, and for each one sperm from the male contains either an X or a Y. If the sperm that inseminates the egg contains a Y chromosome the egg will mature into a male, if the sperm that inseminates the egg contains an X, the egg will mature into a female. The X chromosome is approximately three times as large as the Y chromosome. Early methods of sperm sorting took advanta ge of the weight difference that is a result of their size difference. A sample of sperm was collected in a test tube, and then spun in a centrifuge, which separates the sample by weight. The X sperm will be at the very undersurface of the tube while the Y sperm will be proximate to the top. The major problem with this method is the high rate of speed at which the centrifuge spins in order to separate the sperm causes many collisions.