User:Z3373894

Lab Attendance

Lab 1 -- Z3373894 11:49, 25 July 2012 (EST)

Lab 2 -- Z3373894 10:37, 1 August 2012 (EST)

Lab 1 Assessment

1. Identify the origin of In Vitro Fertilization and the 2010 nobel prize winner associated with this technique and add a correctly formatted link to the Nobel page.

In vitro fertilisation (IVF) has its origins in the 1970s, specifically 1978 when the first successful birth of an IVF baby occurred. This birth was the result of the work of physiologist Robert G. Edwards, who developed the technique and subsequently won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2010 for his work. The procedure involves removing a healthy ovum from the mother and fertilising it outside of the female's body, where the term in vitro, which is Latin for "in glass" comes from. Today, this term is used to describe any procedure that takes place outside of the body, in opposition to an in vivo procedure which takes place inside the body. The zygote is then implanted back into the woman's uterus where it can develop normally.

2. Identify and add a PubMed reference link to a recent paper on fertilisation and describe its key findings (1-2 paragraphs).

A recent paper published on the topic of fertilisation includes a paper from researchers at the University of Pisa in Italy entitled DHEA supplementation improves follicular microenviroment in poor responder patients. This study looked at a group of 24 women aged between 31 and 42 diagnosed with poor ovarian response (POR) in which fewer follicles properly develop. These women were randomly split into two groups; one of which received no special treatment prior to IVF, while the other group received dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) supplementation, which was hypothesised to increase the quality of the oocytes and therefore increase the chance of a successful pregnancy.

The results showed that the group of women that received DHEA supplementation prior to IVF had lower levels of HIF1 in their follicular fluid; a substance produced by the body in response to low oxygen levels. This suggests that DHEA increases the supply of oxygen to the developing follicle and thus increases its quality, as it had been previously shown that oxygen plays a very important role in follicle development. Although the study demonstrated with statistical significance that supplementation with DHEA led to higher levels of HIF1, it could not be shown that supplementation led to better IVF outcomes, however this was attributed to the small sample size. The study concluded that DHEA supplementation is a viable option to increasing follicle development in women with POR as it is relatively cheap, easily administered and has minimal side effects.

Lab 2 Assessment

File:Macaque Oocyte.jpg

A recently fertilised macaque oocyte

1. Upload an image from a journal source relating to fertilization or the first 2 weeks of development as demonstrated in the practical class. Including in the image “Summary” window: An image name as a section heading, Any further description of what the image shows, A subsection labeled “Reference” and under this the original image source, appropriate reference and all copyright information and finally a template indicating that this is a student image. ----

Note - This image was originally uploaded as part of an undergraduate science student project and may contain inaccuracies in either description or acknowledgements. Students have been advised in writing concerning the reuse of content and may accidentally have misunderstood the original terms of use. If image reuse on this non-commercial educational site infringes your existing copyright, please contact the site editor for immediate removal.

The image to the left is from a journal article that investigated both in vivo and in vitro fertilisation in the macaque monkey. It shows a macaque oocyte containing both the maternal and paternal pronuclei. The link to this article can be found both below in 'references' and also in the description of the image.

2. Identify a protein associated with the implantation process, including a brief description of the protein's role.

A protein associated with the implantation process is the glycoprotein fibronectin. It is involved in cell adhesion, growth, migration and differentiation; making it important in many bodily processes including wound healing and embryo implantation. In implantation, it guides cell attachment and migration, and the absence of fibronectin leads to defects in mesodermal, neural tube and vascular development; causing early embryo death.