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Hello, my name is Dr.
Victoria Garside.
I'm an ARC DECRA Fellow in
the Department of Anatomy
and Physiology at
the University of Melbourne in
Park Fell, Victoria, Australia.
Today, I will be presenting
to you the reproductive system,
gametogenesis, and
the ovarian cycle.
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Gametogenesis is
the process that
produces gametes or germ
cells of an organism.
In humans, the male gamete is
sperm produced by the testis,
and in females, the egg or
ovum is released by the ovary.
Gametes are special
cells as they are
the only cells in our
body that are haploid,
which means they only
have one copy of all
the chromosomes.
This is termed n and
is 23 in humans;
22 autosomes, and one
sex chromosome, X or Y.
All of the rest of the
cells of the body are
called somatic cells
and are diploid,
which means they
contain two copies
of all the chromosomes,
and this is called 2n, for
a total of 46 chromosomes.
When the egg is
fertilized by the sperm,
this creates a new
diploid organism,
the zygote or the embryo.
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What are the
reproductive purposes
of the male and the female?
The male is responsible
for the generation
of the sperm or spermatogenesis,
as well as hormone secretion
and the delivery of the sperm.
A female is responsible
for the generation of
the egg or ovum by oogenesis,
as well as hormone secretion,
reception of the
sperm, fertilization,
the generation of the zygote;
gestation, the
period of pregnancy
whereby the fetus grows
into a fully formed baby;
parturition, the birth
of the offspring,
and lactation, the production
of milk for the baby.
This is a broad and simplified
overview of reproduction.
For this talk, I will
specifically focus on
the process of
gametogenesis; in the male
that is spermatogenesis, and
in the female, oogenesis.
The ovarian cycle in females is
as these are a highly
complicated process.
