BIOL30001 Reproductive Physiology
Introduction to the Subject
Geoff Shaw
Mark Green
Contact: BIOL30001@zoology.unimelb.edu.au
Reading: - LMS.unimelb.edu.au
- Johnson MH (2013) Essential Reproduction 7th Edition, WileyBlackwell
- Shaw G (2005) “Animal Reproduction” chap 19 in Biology: An
Australian Focus, 4th edition. Knox et al. McGraw-Hill
BIOL30001 Icebreaker Quiz
What proportion of
Australian couples who want
to have a child require
medical intervention to
conceive?
BIOL30001 Icebreaker Quiz
Where does the majority
of human seminal fluid
come from?
BIOL30001 Icebreaker Quiz
What is this organ and what
does it do?
BIOL30001 Icebreaker Quiz
Is testosterone important
for female reproduction?
BIOL30001 Icebreaker Quiz
Are germ cells infectious?
BIOL30001 Icebreaker Quiz
How many days is
pregnancy in humans?
mice
sheep
bandicoots
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pregnancy_26_weeks_1.jpg
Subject Outline
Focus on mammals
 64,000 pubs in 2013
 67,000 pubs in 2014
Subject Outline
Knowledge of
• Structure, function, and development of the
reproductive organs (Male & Female);
• Endocrine and neuroendocrine and environmental
control of
– reproduction,
– mating,
– fertilisation,
– pregnancy,
– parturition and
– lactation in vertebrates; and
• Human intervention in the reproductive process
• Common human reproductive diseases and disorders
Subject Outline
• Generic skills:
– Attain knowledge from lectures, tutorials,
observation and the literature
– use that knowledge to evaluate and communicate
results
– access information in primary scientific literature
– abilities to evaluate scientific evidence critically
– skills in data interpretation, and identifying
alternative explanations
• We will assess your understanding – note
learning is not enough.
• Lectures- Mon, Tues, Weds, Fri
– but Friday lec. slot mainly for tutes
(may run impromptu tutes in the extra slots)
Lecture: should NOT be “the process by which
the notes of the lecturer become the notes of the
student without passing through the mind of
either”
Focus on what is being said; ask questions…
• Tutorials
– quizzes
– structured learning exercises
– raise questions on lecture content
• Assessment
– 35% Seven online quizzes
– 15% Literature review
– 10% 50 minute mid-semester test
– 40% end of semester exam
Electronic Communication
• Notices in the Announcements area in LMS
• Emails (we will use your University of Melbourne
email address)
• Electronic forums/discussion boards on LMS (feel
free to contribute to these)
• Direct to us on
BIOL30001@zoology.unimelb.edu.au
Check all of these regularly!
Feedback
• Continuous assessment (e.g. online quizzes
and mid-semester test)
• Lecture-time, tutes, quizzes & lit review
assignment
• Seek us out at other times (but forgive us if we
are busy)
**Please remember there are ~200 students in
this subject**
Teaching Staff
Co-ordinators
Geoff Shaw, Rm 359
Ph 8344 6267
Textbook
Mark Green, Rm 354
Ph 8344 4346
Martin Johnson
BIOL30001@zoology.unimelb.edu.au
Guest Lecturers
Teaching Assistants
www.essentialreproduction.com
Time: 170 h
Total time commitment
Total number of hours (contact hours plus
non-contact time commitment) through the
semester expected of a student with average
preparation to successfully complete the
subject and achieve an average mark. The
total time commitment for 12.5 point
undergraduate subjects is 170 hours
UOM Policy MPF1015
Time includes self study
Aim to complete at least 10 hours study for BIOL30001
EVERY WEEK including semester break and swot vac.
Contact:
34 lectures
6 mandatory tutes
7 Quizzes
Self Study:
72 hours
PER WEEK:
4 hours
6 hours
10 hours
TIME: don’t rely on swotvac
• Don’t pretend that doing nothing in term
then cramming for hours in swot vac is
enough.
• This is a subject with a large amount of
content, which is why we encourage you
to review what you have learnt frequently
(online quizzes).
TIME: keep up to date
• WE ASSUME in Lecture 2 that you
know the material covered in Lecture 1;
In lecture 3 we assume Lecture 1 & 2….
… make sure you keep up-to-date with
your revision and self-assessment
TIME: do something every
week
• Spread your time investment through
the semester.
• We will encourage you to study
regularly with approx. weekly quizzes
(35% of assessment)
TIME: don’t get behind
• If you get behind you will never really
catch up! Spend some time after
EVERY lecture and tute consolidating
what you have learned.
• Use your textbook, our notes on LMS,
Echo360, or other books or resources.
BIOL30001 Reproductive Physiology
Patterns of Reproduction
Geoff Shaw
School of BioSciences
Reading: - Subject handbook
- Shaw G (2005) “Animal Reproduction”. Chapter 18 in Knox et
al. Biology 3rd Ed.
- The world wide web…
Why Study Reproduction?
•
•
•
•
•
Fundamental to life
Farming
Fascinating
Fun
Future of human civilization
Patterns of reproduction
• Asexual
• Sexual
Asexual
• fission
• budding
• parthenogenesis
hydra
aphids
whiptail skink
• no exchange of genetic information - clonal
Sexual
• Exchange of genetic information
• bacteria etc.
• 2 sexes – female / male + …?
sperm
• female – eggs – large  embryo
• male – sperm – small, motile
• meiosis vs mitosis
fertilised wallaby egg
0.1 mm
Variations on a theme
protogyny
• Hermaphrodites
protandry
• Parthenogenesis
Question:
• what selective pressures may favour
evolution of protandry vs protogyny?
Sex and the echiuroid worm Bonellia
Echiuroid worm - Bonellia
• Female worm is rock dwelling
• Male lives inside the female’s uterus &
fertilizes her eggs
• If larva lands on sea floor becomes
female
• If larva lands on the proboscis of a
female - chemical attractants emitted
• Larva will enter females mouth, migrate
to the uterus and differentiate into a
male
1m
10 cm
3 mm
Rates of pregnancy birth and abortion
per 1000 women aged 15-19
in USA in the year 2010
Pregnancies:
Births:
Abortions:
57
35
15
source: Sedgh et al (2015) J Adol Health 56:223-230
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1054139X14003875
Rates of pregnancy birth and abortion per 1000
women aged 15-19 in USA year 2010
pregnancies: 57 births: 34 abortions: 15
World Population Growth…
<1% North America, Europe, Russia, Australia, NZ
1-2% Brazil, Argentina, Chile, China, India, Indonesia
2-3% many countries in Central America, Africa, PNG, Asia
>3% many countries in Africa & Asia
Demographic patterns
Age group
45-85+
15-44
0-14
Rapid growth
Kenya
Nigeria
Saudi Arabia
Slow growth
US
Australia
Canada
Zero growth Negative growth
Denmark
Germany
Austria
Bulgaria
Italy
Hungary