Reacción a "A noninvasive optical technique that makes it possible to determine the sex of chicks while they are still in the eggs"

This study is highly relevant because it uses time-domain diffuse optical spectroscopy (TD-DOS) on intact chicken eggs. Its novelty lies in the discovery that eggshells function as natural integrating spheres, a factor that had not previously been considered in the optical analysis of eggs.

This study is highly applicable to the poultry sector, particularly for commercial hatcheries, which face serious operational challenges: infertile eggs and the production of male chicks that are currently culled (320 million per year in the European Union). This technique has the potential to evaluate eggs noninvasively and to identify changes during incubation. Furthermore, it offers significant advantages by accurately modeling the optical properties of eggs, compared to current techniques.