Raman sex sorting of bovine spermatozoa

This work relates to the problem of sex predetermination in animals based on the separation of Xand Y -bearing sperm cells before insemination. We developed a device for efficient, non-destructive and label-free sorting of X-and Y -bearing sperm cells based on their Raman spectroscopic characteristics. Raman spectroscopy (RS) is a non-invasive technique that allows the biochemical analysis of the cellular components and the characterization of molecular structure from their stretching and bending vibrational transitions. RS offers detailed information on the conformation, composition and molecular interactions of important cellular macromolecules, such as DNA, proteins and lipids, and can be used to characterize and study individual living cells. In this paper, we present a Raman spectroscopy-based method for selective and sensitive discrimination of Xand Ybearing bovine sperm cells.