PP3203:03
Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology
| Townsville | HECS Band 2 |
36 hours lectures, 13 hours tutorials, 24 hours practicals. Semester 2.
Staff: Assoc. Professor L Fitzpatrick, Professor P Summers (Coordinators).
Physiological and cellular mechanisms controlling reproductive and endocrinological processes in humans, laboratory and domestic animals including hormone synthesis, adrenal and reproductive endocrinology, neuroendocrinology and hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal interactions, sperm biology and fertilisation, embryonic development, uterine biology and pregnancy, parturition, the postpartum period, immunology of reproduction, the new reproductive technologies and environmental influences on reproduction.
Learning Objectives:
- understand the physiology and biology of reproduction in mammals, in particular the comparative similarities and differences between humans, laboratory and major domestic animals;
- appreciate advanced concepts of endocrinology particularly as it relates to reproductive physiology and biology;
- appreciate current developments in understanding physiological processes involved in reproduction;
- describe the features of the reproductive organs and be able to assess sperm function, fertilisation and early embryonic development;
- appreciate the scientific basis for improving or controlling fertility in humans, domestic, and wild animals;
- understand the application of new reproductive technologies.
Assessment by tutorials (10%); assignment (25%); examination (65%).