Male Infertility and PAWP • What is male infertility? • What causes male infertility? • What are the risk factors for infertility? • What are the typical therapeutic approaches for infertility? • What is PAWP? • What kind of male infertility does PAWP treat? • How does PAWP treat infertility? Treatments for Female Infertility • What is female infertility? • What causes female infertility? • What are the risk factors for infertility? • What are the typical therapeutic approaches for infertility? • What is IVF? • How is IVF performed? Is polyspermy possible? • What is polyspermy? • What are the pathological, non-­‐pathological and compensable forms of polyspermy? Give examples of organisms for each. • What is the role of the centrioles in polyspermy? • What are the potential mechanisms determining the outcome of polyspermy? • Read the articles: “A case of true hermaphroditism reveals an unusual mechanism of twinning” and “A New Kind of Twin”. Discuss the medical case of the twins, investigations conducted and conclusions reached. Stem cell therapy • What are stem cells? • What is stem cell therapy? How does it work? How is it performed? • What is the difference between totipotent, pluripotent and multipotent cells? Give examples of each. • What is the difference between embryonic and adult stem cells? What are their advantages/disadvantages? • Discuss one concrete example of stem cell therapy currently being practiced in the field of medicine. Chimeric and gene knockout mice • How are foreign genes introduced in mice using the method of mouse embryonic chimera? •
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Give an example of a study that used mouse embryonic chimera to investigate genes involved in development. How can mice with mutated genes be generated using homologous recombination in mouse embryonic cells? Give an example of a study that used mouse gene knockout to investigate genes involved in development. Human Conjoined Twins • What are conjoined twins? • What are the different types of conjoined twins? • How are conjoined twins formed? • When and how are conjoined twins separated? Spina Bifida • What is spina bifida? • What are the types of spina bifida? • How is it diagnosed? • How is it treated? • How can it be prevented? • What causes the disease? • Find a research that describes at least one genetic basis for spina bifida and present the study.