Two Peas in a Pod

Part I

1. Both in vitro fertilization and in vivo fertilization are processes of artificial fertilization that couples who are struggling with child conception look to as an ulterior method for insemination. The process of in vitro fertilization entails an egg being fertilized in a petri dish then inserted into a pipet and then into the womb of the incubating female. In vivo fertilization, a similar procedure, is when a sperm sample is injected by pipet into the mouth of the cervix or the womb of the incubating female.

2. Darrell and Thomas are fraternal, or dizygotic, twins. This means that, when they were in their mother’s uterus, Darrell and Thomas developed from two separate eggs that were fertilized by two different sperms. Hanna, their mother, was implanted with two eggs that were both fertilized by two different sperm. This is different from identical, or monozygotic, twins who actually developed from one zygote. For identical twins, the original zygote split into two embryos.

3. What made the couple want twins? What were the medical issues that lead them to IVF? Would they do IVF again if they ever wanted to have more children? How was their experience with the whole IVF process? Would they ever consider having another woman carry their child? How have their two sons developed differently? Similarly? How much did their IVF procedure cost? Did Hannah’s hormonal exposure lead to any complications? The sever differences in the twins’ appearance could mean a lab error, meaning the wrong sperm/egg combination may have been implanted into Hannah’s uterus.

Part II

1. Gel electrophoresis tests charged substances, such as DNA, RNA, and proteins, in organisms. Each “band” represents the charged substance being observed. Each of the four individuals, Nathan, Hannah, Darrell, and Thomas, has two bands. Just like any true scientific experiment, the more trials, the better, more accurate the data. A single gel trial may have been contaminated or...