CRISPR Offers Glowing Solution to Male Chicks Culling Problem

An Israeli startup called eggXYt embarked on a groundbreaking project that uses gene editing to address the male chick culling problem in the poultry and egg industries.

According to Yehuda Elram, co-founder and CEO of eggXYt, billions of male chicks are slaughtered every year because male layers (the breed of chicken used for eggs) can't lay eggs and their meat is too scrawny. To address this concern, eggXYt uses CRISPR to add a genetic marker to male eggs to make them glow. When the eggs go through a scanner, the male eggs are immediately identified right after they are laid, and before they go through the 21-day incubation process. This is considered a breakthrough in the sex determination of eggs because other techniques are only viable when the eggs are several days into the incubation process.

"Our advantage is that at this point, our technology is the only 'day zero' sexing technology which is scientifically proven," said Elram.

Read more from eggXYt website and Food Navigator.