Question

Expand the following abbreviations which are commonly used in reproductive health.
a) ART
b) ZIFT

Answer 1

Hint: Infertility makes a person incapable of either having a child or to fertilize the gamete. The fertilization is a natural process occurring in the body but sometimes it has to be done in vitro to overcome the infertility problem. The problem can be in men or women. So various methods are designed to overcome the problems of both the genders.

Complete answer:
Humans reproduce by fertilizing male and female gametes in the women’s body. Sometimes due to any particular reason, this fertilization becomes impossible naturally. Then we perform the fertilization in labs to produce the zygote. These are artificial methods.
a) ART- Assisted reproductive technology. It is done to inform about infertility. It may include in vitro fertilization, cryopreservation, intracytoplasmic sperm injection. This is all done to induce fertility. With this process, the fertilization is done artificially. The eggs are surgically obtained from a woman's body and they are injected with the sperm sample in the laboratory. The fertilized zygote is then transferred to the mother’s womb. It does not include artificial insemination.

b) ZIFT- Zygote intrafallopian transfer. It is to treat infertility when there is a blockage in the fallopian tube of a lady. The sperm and egg fertilize in the fallopian tube to form the zygote which is implanted in the uterus. But due to blockage in the fallopian tube, the fertilization is done in vitro and is placed in the woman's fallopian tube or the uterus. This is done by laparoscopy. The cycle takes 5-6 weeks to complete. It is done in the case when one of the fallopian tubes is normal. The IVF is better than this process.

Note: They both are the reproductive treatments to cure infertility. The best method is the IVF method. The female has to undergo hormone treatment to produce or to initiate the body for the process. The babies by any artificial insemination/treatment are completely fine and healthy.