3. Life Processes in Living Organisms Part - 2 L-08

Reproduction and Modern Technology :

  • Many couples cannot have children due to various reasons. 
  • In case of women,
    • irregularity in menstrual cycle
    • difficulties in oocyte production
    • obstacles in the oviduct,difficulties in implantation in uterus and 
    • many other reasons are responsible for this.
  • Absence of sperms in the semen, slow movement of sperms, anomalies in the sperms are the reasons in case of males
  • But now with the help of advanced medical techniques like 
    • IVF
    • Surrogacy
    • Sperm bank the childless couples can have a child.

In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) :

  • Brought about in the test-tube .
  • Embryo formed is implanted in uterus of woman at appropriate time.
  • IVF technique is used for having the child in case of those childless couples who have problems like less sperm count, obstacles in oviduct, etc.

Surrogacy : 

  • In this technique, oocyte is collected from the ovary of the woman having problem in implantation in uterus. 
  • That oocyte is fertilized in test-tube with the help of sperms collected from her husband. 
  • The embryo formed from such fertilization is implanted in the uterus of some other woman having normal uterus. 
  • Such a woman, in whose uterus the embryo is implanted, is called as surrogate mother.

Sperm Bank/ Semen Bank :

  • This concept is similar to blood bank. 
  • Semen ejaculated by the desired men is collected after their thorough physical and medical check-up and stored in the sperm bank.
  • As per the wish of needful couple, oocyte of woman of the concerned couple is fertilized by IVF technique using the semen from sperm bank. 
  • Resultant embryo is implanted in the uterus of same woman. 
  • Name of the semen donor is strictly kept secret as per the law.

Twins :

  • Two embryos develop simultaneously in the same uterus and thus two offsprings are delivered simultaneously. Such offsprings are called as twins. 
  • Many couples have twins. 
  • There are two main types of twins as-
    • Monozygotic twins and 
    • Dizygotic twins.

Monozygotic twins : 

  • Formed from single embryo.
  • During early period of embryonic development (within 8 days of zygote formation), cells of that embryo divide into two groups.
  • Those two groups develop as two separate embryos and thus monozygotic twins are formed. 
  • Such twins are genetically exactly similar to each other. 
  • Due to this, such twins are exactly similar in their appearance 
  • Their gender is also same i.e. both will be either boys or girls.
Conjoined twins (Siamese twins) :
  • In case of monozygotic twins, if the embryonic cells are divided into two groups 8 days after the zygote formation; there is high possibility of formation of conjoined twins (Siamese twins). 
  • Such twins are born with some parts of body joined to each other
  • Some organs are common in such twins.
Dizygotic twins :
  • Occasionally, two oocytes are released from the ovary of woman.
  • Both oocytes are fertilized by two separate sperms.
  • Thus two zygotes are formed. 
  • Two embryos are formed from those two zygotes.
  • Both of those embryos are separately implanted in the uterus.
  • Thus dizygotic twins are delivered after complete development. 
  • Such twins are genetically different and may be same of different by gender.

Reproductive health : 

  • A person’s state of being physical, mental and social strongness is called as health.
  • Occurrence of menstrual cycle is related with reproductive and overall health of women.
  • Bleeding occurs during menstrual cycle. 
  • Due to this, private organs (genitals) need to be maintained clean time to time.
  • It is essential to maintain the cleanliness of their genitals.
  • Among the various sexual diseases, syphilis and gonorrhoea occur on large scale. 
  • Both of these diseases are caused by bacteria. 
Symptoms of syphilis :
  • Occurrence of chancre (patches) on various parts of body including genitals, rash, fever, inflammation of joints, alopecia. 
Symptoms of gonorrhoea :
  • Painful and burning sensation during urination, oozing of pus through penis and vagina, inflammation of urinary tract, anus, throat, eyes, etc.