Angus testes now in Brahman. No bull

CSIRO researchers have inseminated Brahman bulls with stem cells from the testicles of European Angus bulls, so the Brahmans will deliver Angus sperm.

ABC Rural: 16 December 2010

What’s the point?

It is not mentioned in the ABC report, so in case you are wondering why CSIRO, or anyone, would bother doing this when this is effectively the same as the simple and effective artifical insemination (AI) process, it is because Brahmans are a tropical breed used in the northern parts of Australia where cattle stations are measured in square miles – many thousands of them. The vast distances and millions of individual cattle simply make AI too costly. Nigel Preston, CSIRO’s theme leader on this research project also says the technique could potentially amplify elite genetics through the herd. We (CSIRO) commissioned a major consumer survey by University of Western Australia with the finding that the technology was broadly viewed as a natural alternative to AI. The few consumers that viewed AI as unnatural had the same view about stem cell transfer.

More information at CSIRO Livestock Industries

And yes, the homepage pic in neither a Brahman or Angus. It is a hereford, but it what I had on file