By,

PRITHISH CH. NATH

MSc 3rd SEMESTER

ROLL NO. :- 26

DEPT. OF LIFE SCIENCE & BIOINFORMATICS

ASSAM UNIVERSITY, SILCHAR.

ART IN INDIAN PROSPECT

INTRODUCTIONAssisted Reproductive Techniques(ARTs) are the

techniques which assist the infertile couples to

conceive babies by various medical means which

otherwise are incapable of having it naturally. The

individual or couple is considered to infertile if they

are unable to conceive baby even after 12 months of

regular contraceptive-free intercourse.

ARTs are mainly of the following types

Intra-cytoplasmic Sperm Injection(ICSI)

Gamete Intra-fallopian Transfer(GIFT)

Zygote Intra-fallopian Transfer(ZIFT)

In Vitro Fertilization(IVF)

Intrauterine Insemination(IUI).

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND The history of ART dates back as early as the 1890’s when

Walter Heape, a professor at the university of Cambridge, UK,

reported the first known case of embryo transplantation in

Rabbits.

The most remarkable achievement in the field of ART was made

in the 25th of July, 1978 by Dr Robert Geoffrey Edwards with the

birth of Louise Brown, the first IVF baby. He got Nobel Prize in

2010 for his remarkable achievement.

Subhash Mukhopadhyay, a physician from Kolkata,India created

the world’s second and India’s first child using IVF technology.

Durga was the name of the child developed by him.

Recent developments of ART in

India

Assisted Reproductive Techniques(ARTs) has grown by

leaps and bounds in India. With the rise in economy, many

infertile couples can now afford the sophisticated ART

techniques.

A new test has emerged which can detect if the new eggs

produced by a women are defective, which may prove to

be boon for women who opt for IVF. As of now, women

routinely subject themselves to a series of IVF fail attempts

without realizing that they carried the defective eggs which

would produce defective children.

A healthy egg contains a spindle which holds the complete

genetic package. If there is no spindle, either the woman

has a miscarriage or the baby is abnormal with Down’s

syndrome or cerebral palsy.

VITRIFICATION Vitrification is a preservation process which by the aid of

conc. Vitrification solution and by rapid cooling prevents

the formation of ice crystals, which are known to damage

cells.

Vitrification was first successfully conducted in humans in

Japan. In this procedure, the embryos are mixed with a

freezing media and then plunged into liquid Nitrogen(-196*

C).

The high conc. of anti freeze and rapid drop in temperature

prevents the water in the cells from converting into ice.

The entire embryo goes into glassy state avoiding the

crystals, which are known to damage the embryo.

Because of vitrification process, the eggs can be preserved

indefinitely if -196*C temperature is maintained.

Intacytoplsmic Morphologically Selected Sperm Injection(IMSI)

IMSI is a modified form of ICSI. The only difference is that IMSI selects the best quality sperm by magnifying it by 72,000 times as compared to 200 times in ICSI method.

By IMSI, the spermatozoon can be evaluated for the fine integrity of its nucleus and the injection of normal spermatozoon with vacuole free head can be assured.

Normal shaped sperm cells without vacuoles or with large vacuoles were very rare both in patients and the fertile donor samples.

However, the prevalence of small vacuoles in the normal sperm cells was extensively high both in patients and the donor samples.

An oocyte study showed a lower fertilization rate with grade II spermatozoa(normal shaped, containing no more than 2 vacuoles) than with grade I spermatozoa(normal shaped, without vacuoles).

Sperm vacuoles are linked to a non reactive acrosome

INTRAVIGINAL CULTURE (IVC)

Normally eggs and embryos are incubated InVitro in

expensive CO2 incubators.

IVC enables one to provide IVF services without using

CO2 incubators.

In IVC, the eggs & sperms are kept in a culture media in a

sterile vial which is hermatically sealed and then introduced

in woman’s vagina, where it is held in place by vaginal

diaphragm.

Here the woman herself acts as her own IVF incubator

keeping her embryo at right temperature of 37*C.

IVC requires less handling of sperms and embryos & the

fertilization rate is comparable with conventional IVF at

much less expense.

VAGINAL

INCUBATION

FIG. :- VIAL WITH VAGINAL DIAPHRAGM ATTACHED

WITH IT

ENCAPSULATED GAMETES

In this technique, the eggs & sperms are introduced into

the uterine cavity after placing hem in a biodegradable

semi-permeable matrix.

The capsule acts functionally like a temporary incubation

chamber which prevents the eggs from being damaged as

a result of direct contact with the endometrium.

After the completion of fertilization in the uterine cavity, the

capsule dissolves and releases he embryo for implantation.

CONCLUSION

ART has proved to be boon for the infertile

couples in India and as well as couples around

the world. It allows the infertile couples to

overcome their infertility problems and thus helps

them in conceiving babies.