The biology of controlling fertility

Cards (13)

  • The morning after pill works by
    preventing implantation
  • Which of these procedures involve in vitro fertilisation (IVF)?
    Intracytoplasmic sperm injection
    Pre-implantation genetic screening
  • In the treatment of infertility, ovulation can be stimulated by drugs that prevent the negative feedback effect of

    oestrogen on FSH secretion
  • Which of the following forms of contraception causes thickening of the cervical mucus?
    Mini-pill
  • Which of the following treatments for infertility involves the head of the sperm being drawn into a needle and injected directly into the egg to achieve fertilisation?
    Intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI)
  • Which fertility treatment would be appropriate for a woman with blocked uterine tubes?
    In vitro fertilisation
  • State how fertility drugs stimulate ovulation.
    Fertility drugs prevent the negative feedback effect of oestrogen
  • Explain how artificial insemination could be used to enable a couple to have a child when the man has a low sperm count.
    Sperm obtained from donor
    Sperm then introduced into female reproductive uterus (by syringe).
  • Suggest why testosterone injections are sometimes used to treat infertility in men.
    Testosterone stimulates the production of sperm
  • Distinguish between cyclical and continuous fertility.
    Males = permanently fertile
    female = fertile for a short (regular) period of time / egg produced once a month.
  • The female contraceptive pill raises the levels of ovarian hormones in the blood. Explain why this has a contraceptive effect.
    Hormones inhibit the pituitary gland.
    Lack of pituitary hormones stops ovulation / development of follicle.
  • Two treatments sometimes used for infertility are artificial insemination and in vitro fertilisation.
    Describe briefly what is meant by these terms.
    Artificial inseminationSperm injected into uterus by syringe.
    In vitro fertilisationFertilisation takes place outside of mother /in glass dish
  • During IVF treatment, it is possible to detect single gene disorders in fertilised eggs before they are implanted into the mother. Give the term that describes this procedure.
    Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis / PGD.