Sperm penetration tests check to see whether a man's sperm can move through cervical mucus and the fallopian tubes to join with (fertilize) an egg. This test is usually done when a couple is having trouble becoming pregnant (infertility). There are different sperm penetration tests.
The idea that a boundary is shifting can be applied to different areas. A shifting frontier of science would be referring to the fact that science is always changing and growing, and always with new areas. In wartime, a shifting frontier would be an international border which is constantly being renegotiated.
A frontier represents uncharted territory. It could be a remote piece of land or a new field of study, but if someone calls it the frontier, you are challenged to explore it. The noun frontier has several meanings. It can refer to the wilderness at the edge of a settled area (picture covered wagons pushing westward) or it can mean a field of study that has not yet been explored (picture genetically engineering pet dinosaurs).