In case of a couple where the male is having a very low sperm count, which technique will be suitable for fertilization ?
- Artificial Insemination
- Gamete intracytoplasmic fallopian transfer
- Intracytoplasmic sperm injection
- Intrauterine transfer
Answer
(1) Artificial Insemination, (3) Intracytoplasmic sperm injection
Solution
As per NCERT, infertility cases due to inability of the male partner to inseminate the female or due to very low sperm counts in the ejaculate could be corrected by the artificial insemination (AI) technique.
⇒ In AI, semen collected from the husband or a healthy donor is introduced into the vagina or uterus (IUI).
⇒ Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) is another specialised procedure in which a single sperm is directly injected into the ovum to form an embryo in the laboratory; it too overcomes a very low sperm count.
⇒ Intrauterine transfer (IUT) transfers an embryo with more than 8 blastomeres into the uterus — it does not solve low sperm count by itself; 'gamete intracytoplasmic fallopian transfer' is not a recognised technique.
∴ Artificial insemination and intracytoplasmic sperm injection are both suitable.
Answer: (1), (3)