*2.1. Animals*

Retired breeder CD1 and C57BL/6 mice were purchased from Charles River Laboratories (Charles River, St-Constant, QC, Canada). All procedures in this study were conducted under the Animal Utilization Protocols approved by Queen's University Animal Care Committee (protocol # 2017-1742) and complied with the Guidelines of the Canadian Council on Animal Care. Fertile, non-transgenic boar semen samples were collected at the University of Missouri's National Swine Resource and Research Center and processed in their Division of Animal Sciences, College of Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources (Columbia, MO, USA), under the strict guidance of the University of Missouri's Animal Welfare Assurance Number and Animal Care and Use Committee (ACUC) protocol # A3394-01.
