Q.Mention the primary aim of the “Assisted Reproductive Technology” (ART) programme.

Imagine you have a friend who wants to have a baby, but nature isn't cooperating. Maybe the fallopian tubes are blocked, or the sperm count is very low, or the woman's age makes it difficult. For decades, that was the end of the story. But today, doctors have a toolkit of medical procedures that can step in and help — that toolkit is called Assisted Reproductive Technology, or ART.

At its simplest, ART is any medical technique that handles a human egg or sperm outside the body to help a person get pregnant. The most famous example is IVF (in vitro fertilisation), where the egg and sperm are combined in a lab dish — "in vitro" means "in glass" — and the resulting embryo is then placed into the woman's uterus. But ART is broader than just IVF. It includes everything from injecting a single sperm directly into an egg (ICSI) to using a donor's egg or sperm, or even having another woman carry the pregnancy (surrogacy).

Why does this matter for a commerce or humanities student? Because ART is not just a medical story — it's a social, legal, and economic one. It raises questions about who can afford it (it's expensive), who gets to be a parent (single people, same-sex couples), and what happens to unused embryos (legal and ethical debates). In India, the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Act, 2021 now governs these procedures, requiring clinics to be registered and banning commercial surrogacy for foreigners. So when you read about "test-tube babies" or "surrogacy laws" in the news, you're looking at ART in action.

Here are the main techniques you should know, as listed in the NCERT:

• IVF (In Vitro Fertilisation): Egg and sperm are mixed in a lab dish. The embryo is then transferred to the uterus.
• ICSI (Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection): A single sperm is injected directly into an egg. Used when sperm count is very low.
• GIFT (Gamete Intrafallopian Transfer): Eggs and sperm are placed directly into the fallopian tube, so fertilisation happens inside the body.
• ZIFT (Zygote Intrafallopian Transfer): A fertilised egg (zygote) is placed into the fallopian tube. …