Patent ID: 9383369
Filing Date: 2016-07-05
CPC Classification: G01N

Claim Text:
1. A method of processing semen for administration to an egg or a female mammal or combination thereof, wherein the processed semen has an increased percentage of sperm having a desired trait, the method comprising: a) collecting an ejaculate of semen; b) monitoring in real-time the metabolic status of sperm in the ejaculate during incubation under controlled conditions prior to processing for artificial insemination or in vitro fertilization by measuring at a plurality of time points the expression of a biomarker that is indicative of the metabolic status of the semen, wherein the controlled conditions includes cooling the collected ejaculate of semen from a temperature ranging from the body temperature of the particular species from which it was collected to a temperature not less than about 0° C.; c) determining a jump point based on the expression level of the biomarker for the sperm in the ejaculate; and d) applying a time shift from the jump point identified by the real-time monitoring of biomarker expression; wherein the method for determining the time shift for processing the ejaculate for artificial insemination or in vitro fertilization comprises the steps of: i) selecting a biological marker that is indicative of a metabolic status of sperm having said desired trait, wherein expression of the biological marker changes during said incubation, ii) determining the level of expression of the biomarker by sperm of a prior ejaculate during a prior incubation under the same controlled conditions at a plurality of time points during prior incubation, wherein an aliquot of said prior ejaculate is assayed at each time point, iii) determining a maximum time point when the sperm in the prior ejaculate display a maximum level of expression of said biomarker, iv) selecting a prior time point (jump point) which occurs before the sperm in the prior ejaculate display the maximum level of the desired trait, v) determining the level of expression of the biomarker by sperm in the prior ejaculate at the selected prior time point (jump point); vi) determining the elapsed time between the jump point and the maximum level of the desired trait of step (iv), thereby providing a value for a time shift for a change in the metabolic status between the jump point and the maximum level of the display of the desired trait, e) processing said semen ejaculate at a later time, wherein said later time is determined by adding the time shift to the jump point time determined in previous step (iv), wherein said processing for in vitro fertilization or artificial insemination does not comprise physically separating the cells based on said desired trait, thereby obtaining semen with an increased percent of sperm with the desired trait, and f) administering the semen with the increased percent of sperm with the desired trait to an egg, a female mammal or combination of thereof by an in vitro fertilization or artificial insemination method.