Intro: What is a socioscientific issue (SSI)? As stated by Sadler (2004) “Socioscientific issues encompass social dilemmas with conceptual or technological links to science. The process of resolving these issues is best characterized by informal reasoning which describes the generation and evaluation of positions in response to complex situations.” one such SSI is assisted reproductive technology (ART) which to date is facing the biological as well as the social implications by members of society. While some people have accepted the solution for infertility in the form of ART, many still believe some procedures are ethically wrong. This report will show both the biological as well as the ethical viewpoints of some ART procedures. As explained by Hochschild (2009) ART consists of “procedures that include the in vitro handling of both human oocytes and sperm, or embryos, for the …show more content…
In Vivo Fertilisation is the natural process and occurs inside the body in the fallopian tubes of the female, where after sexual intercourse millions of sperm will travel to the fallopian tubes in the woman’s uterus but only one sperm will be able to fuse with the single egg. The head of the sperm will break through the layer around the egg made up of sugar and proteins, in order to fertilise and form a zygote. the layer surrounding the egg will then thicken to prevent other sperm from entering. In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) is a method of ART which involves the fertilisation of a sperm and egg outside the body in a laboratory dish. As shown in Picture 2 this procedure requires the eggs to be surgically removed from the ovary after the women have been given in hormonal treatment to stimulate the production of many eggs. The eggs will then be placed with the sperm in a dish where it is fertilized. Once the embryos reach 4 cell stage they are placed back into the uterus of the