Male and female

Lecture 2, Monday, September 9: Bioassay

Goals:

We'll review the ways that cells use chemicals to communicate with each other.

You'll learn one way in which these chemicals may be measured, based on the biological response to the chemical that's being studied.

You should already know:

We're going to use thyroid hormone as an example, so be familiar with what it does, where it comes from, how its secretion is controlled by the hypothalamus and anterior pituitary gland. You can review this in Sherwood, 649-657 and 669-675 or Purves et al.'s Life 717-723 (shorter!) on reserve in the Biology Library.
You should also recall the different methods by which cells communicate with each other. This is summarized in Fig 3-21, p. 71 of Sherwood, and the accompanying text.

Lecture:

Intercellular communication
Berthold's experiment
Bioassay
Slides Opens as web page so you can quickly go through the slides.
Slides Opens in PowerPoint so you can print them and see the animations.

Reading:

Sherwood:
no reading on this topic
Other reading:
"Common techniques in behavioral endocrinology", pages 18-23, An Introduction to Behavioral Endocrinology, by Randy Nelson. Describes Berthold's experiment, bioassay, radioimmunoassay.

Recent research:
Catnip repels mosquitoes more effectively than DEET Used a mosquito bioassay to study this.

Test yourself:

Nuts and Bolts
Problem solving
Problem Set 1: Questions 16, 18

Lecture 3, Wednesday, September 11: Radioimmunoassay

Goals:

You should already know:

... general structure of antibodies. See Figure 12-11 in Sherwood, p. 403.

Lecture:

Bioassay

Pregnancy test

Advantages and disadvantages

Radioimmunoassay
ELISA

Slides

Reading:

Sherwood:
no reading on this topic
Other reading:
"Common techniques in behavioral endocrinology", see link above.
"Radioimmunoassay", pages 828-830, Berne & Levy, Physiology, 3rd ed, 1993.
ELISA animation A little different from the kind I described in class
Radioimmunoassay and ELISA from Texas A&M

Medical reference:
Common tests to examine thyroid gland function, includes several RIAs. Can you find three errors in the two sentences that describe RIAs?

Biography:
Rosalyn Yalow won the Nobel Prize in 1977 for developing radioimmunoassay with Solomon Berson

Assignment:

Assignment #1 is due today.

Test yourself:

Nuts and Bolts
Problem solving
Problem Set 1: Questions 15, 17

Lecture 4, Wednesday, September 18: Male reproductive system

Goals:

You should already know:

... general principles of endocrinology, including how the hypothalamus and anterior pituitary gland work together to control other glandular secretions. Review Sherwood 635-648 and 649-657.

Lecture:

Male reproductive anatomy
Hormones
Slides

Reading:

Sherwood:
Fig 20-1 and 721-729
Other reading:
New route from brain to testes, from BioMedNet. Report from the International Congress of Neuroendocrinology on Catherine Rivier's work.

Recent research:
Hormone therapy shows promise as male contraceptive

Assignment:

Test yourself:

Nuts and Bolts
Problem solving
Problem Set 2

Lecture 5, Monday, September 23: Female reproductive system

Goals:

You should already know:

... general principles of endocrinology, including how the hypothalamus and anterior pituitary gland work together to control other glandular secretions. Review Sherwood 635-648 and 649-657.

Lecture:

Female anatomy
Mini-exam #1
Slides

Reading:

Sherwood:
Fig 20-2 and 734-743

Recent research:
Research shows earliest testing does not reveal all pregnancies
Differences between boys and girls show after three weeks

Poetry:
Brendan Galvin, Fear of Gray's Anatomy BioMedNet. Do you mind that your body parts seem to belong to others? Cells of Leydig, tubes of Fallopius, ducts of Muller and Wolff? Gray's classical anatomy textbook was a disappointment for this poet.

Biography:
1982 Nobel Prize awarded for discovery of prostaglandins

Medical reference:
Ectopic pregnancy

Assignment:

Test yourself:

Nuts and Bolts
Problem solving
Problem Set 3

Lecture 6, Wednesday, September 25: Female reproductive system

Goals:

Lecture:

Cyclic changes in the ovary
Cyclic changes in the uterus
Hormones that coordinate these changes
Slides

Reading:

Sherwood:
734-743
Recent research:

Medical reference:
Special health concerns of women from the Columbia University Complete Home Medical Guide
Using foods against menstrual pain

Animations of menstrual cycle:

How stuff works Visualize hormones as bar graphs instead of line graphs

Test yourself:

Nuts and Bolts
Problem solving
Problem Set 3

     Lecture 7, Monday, September 30: Sexual differentiation

Goals:

Lecture:

Gonadal hormone effects on the uterus
Levels of sexual differentiation
   Genetic sex
   Gonadal sex
Slides

Reading:

Sherwood:
718-721

Other reading:

Recent research:
Deleting gene changes sex of mice

Medical reference:
Klinefelter's syndrome support group
Turner's syndrome support group

Humor:
Y Chromosome Map

Test yourself:

Nuts and Bolts
Problem solving
Problem Set 3

Lecture 8, Wednesday, October 2: Sexual differentiation

Goals:

Lecture:

Sexual differentiation:

Hormones
Ducts
Genitals

Disorders of differentiation:

Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia
5-alpha reductase deficiency

Slides

Reading:

Sherwood:
718-721; Figure 19-10 for CAH = adrenogenital syndrome

Other reading:
Guevodoces
Intersex Society of North America Best source of information on this topic, by people with these conditions; includes definitions and frequency of different intersex conditions, and medical and legal ramifications.
Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome support group. Includes personal stories detailing how AIS women felt about the way doctors and parents dealt with them.
Ambiguous sex or ambivalent medicine. Alice Dreger examines ethics of treating intersex conditions.
Recent research:

Animations:

Shown in lecture:
Male genital development in utero
Differentiation of male and female genitals
Others:
How is sex determined?

Test yourself:

Nuts and Bolts
Problem solving
Problem Set 4
Questions before mini-exam 2