Which one of the following techniques is most appropriate where the female cannot produce an ovum but can provide the environment for the development of embryo?

GIFT

The correct answer is Option (3) → GIFT 

Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) are medical procedures used to treat infertility by manipulating eggs, sperm, or embryos outside the body. These technologies aim to help individuals or couples achieve pregnancy when natural conception is difficult. Some examples of ART include: In vitro fertilisation (IVF–fertilisation outside the body in almost similar conditions as that in the body) followed by embryo transfer (ET) is one of such methods.

The zygote or early embryos (with upto 8 blastomeres) could then be transferred into the fallopian tube (ZIFT–zygote intra fallopian transfer) and embryos with more than 8 blastomeres, into the uterus (IUT – intra uterine transfer), to complete its further development. Transfer of an ovum collected from a donor into the fallopian tube (GIFT – gamete intra fallopian transfer) of another female who cannot produce one, but can provide suitable environment for fertilisation and further development is another method attempted. 

Infertility cases either due to inability of the male partner to inseminate the female or due to very low sperm counts in the ejaculates, could be corrected by artificial insemination (AI) technique. In this technique, the semen collected either from the husband or a healthy donor is artificially introduced either into the vagina or into the uterus (IUI – intra-uterine insemination) of the female.

Intra cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) is another specialised procedure to form an embryo in the laboratory in which a sperm is directly injected into the ovum placed in a nutrient broth.The zygote or early embryo is later transferred by ZIFT in woman.