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Integrated Laboratory Class 1

Code: 100886 ECTS Credits: 3
2024/2025
Degree Type Year
2500252 Biochemistry OB 1

Contact

Name:
Maria Plana Coll
Email:
maria.plana@uab.cat

Teachers

Maria Elena Ibaņez de Sans
Enric Menendez Dalmau
Silvia Lope Piedrafita
Miriam Perez Trujillo
Eva Monteagudo Soldevilla

Teaching groups languages

You can view this information at the end of this document.


Prerequisites

The student must attend simultaneously or have taken the theory subjects, which are taught during the same semester, corresponding to the contents of the practices of this subject,


In order to attend the laboratory classes it is necessary for the student to justify having passed the biosecurity and security tests that you will find in the Virtual Campus and be knowledgeable and accept the operating rules of the Bioscience Laboratories.

The test is answered in the corresponding space of the Virtual Campus and the information that must be consulted is in the communication space of the Degree in Biochemistry.


It is advisable for students to review the theoretical contents on which this subject is based





 


Objectives and Contextualisation

The subject Integrated Laboratory 1 is part of a set of six subjects that are distributed throughout the first six semesters of the Degree in Biochemistry.

The training objective of these subjects is the acquisition of practical skills by the student.

The contents are organized in increasing order of complexity, associated with the needs and acquisition of theoretical contents.

During the Integrated Laboratory 1 the student acquires practical competences in the contents:

- Physical

- Cellular Biology

- Basic Instrumental Techniques

- Fundamentals of Chemistry

- Mathematics.

Practices in the laboratory focus on learning basic techniques specific to each field and on the characteristics of working in the laboratory.


Competences

  • Act with ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights and duties, diversity and democratic values.
  • Apply general laboratory security and operational standards and specific regulations for the manipulation of different biological systems.
  • Apply the principal techniques used in biological systems: methods of separation and characterisation of biomolecules, cell cultures, DNA and recombinant protein techniques, immunological techniques, microscopy techniques, etc.
  • Collaborate with other work colleagues.
  • Design and prepare laboratory protocols, including health and safety aspects.
  • Take account of social, economic and environmental impacts when operating within one's own area of knowledge.
  • Think in an integrated manner and approach problems from different perspectives.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Act with ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights and duties, diversity and democratic values.
  2. Collaborate with other work colleagues.
  3. Identify the cell systems that are useful for studying biochemistry and molecular biology.
  4. Monitor and interpret experiment protocols from a critical perspective.
  5. Take account of social, economic and environmental impacts when operating within one's own area of knowledge.
  6. Think in an integrated manner and approach problems from different perspectives.
  7. Use the appropriate methodology for studying the different types of biological samples.
  8. Use the basic techniques for handling and analysing proteins and nucleic acids.
  9. Use the basic techniques for studying biomolecules in a chemistry laboratory.
  10. Use the established methods for eliminating the different types of waste products from a biochemistry and molecular biology laboratory.

Content

The subject is structured in 4 types of contents.

Cell Biology

Contents:

Presentation of the  lab  (2 h). Organization and operation of the lab. General Regulations and evaluation criteria.

Practical Session 1 (2h). Introduction to the optical microscope and observation of plant and animal cells. Description of the elements of the optical microscope and the basics of using the microscope. Preparation of samples of plant and animal  cells and observation to the optical microscope  of  their  morphology and its main components.

Practice 2 (2h). Electronic microscopy. Fundamentals of electron microscopy. Recognition and measurement of different cell structures and organelles in SEM and TEM micrographs.

Practical session 3 (2h). Mitotic cell division. Obtaining temporary preparations of plant tissues in order to observe and recognize the different phases of mitosis and calculate its duration.

Basic Instrumental Techniques

Continguts

Practice 1 (2h).

Determination of the concentration of glucose by a metric dye.

Analysis of an absorption spectrum.

Practice 2 (2h).

Filtration gel chromatography: separation of hemoglobin from vitamin B12 and dextra blue.

Separation of proteins by electrophoresis in SDS. Preparation of the gel (which is far from the drawer).

Practice 3 (2h).

Determination of proteins of animals protected by SDS electrophoresis (Example: actin and myosin).

Phonemes of Chemistry

Continguts

Practice 1 (4h)

Determination of the degree of acidity of a commercial vinegar.

Concept: Assessment of a weak acid.

Practice 2 (4h)

Separation of a mixture of Benzoic Acid, 1,3-dinitrobenzene and Aniline

Simple extraction concept: Extraction with a basic aqueous and acid phase

There will be 4 lab activities. Before carrying out the first lab activity, a brief introduction to error analysis in experimental measurements will be given.

Lab activity 1 (approximately 3 hours long)

Determination of the viscosity coefficient of liquids using the Stokes method.

Lab activity 2 (approximately 3 hours long)

Hooke's law and oscillatory motion properties. Determination of the resonance frequency of an oscillatory system.

Lab activity 3 (approximately 3 hours long)

Determination of the charge/mass ratio of electrons.

Lab activity 4 (approximately 3 hours long)

Experimental consequences of the wave nature of light. Diffraction

Mathematics module

We will learn to carry out an algebraic manipulator by performing calculations and representing graphs of functions of one
Variable We will work on mathematical modeling of physical, chemical and biological phenomena.

Continguts

Practice 1 (2h): Introduction. The manipulator syntax.
Practice 2 (2h): Functions of a variable.
Practice 3 (2h): Derivative and integral applications.
Practice 4 (2h): Equations and differential applications.
Practice 5 (2h): Content consolidation test.


Activities and Methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
practice sessions in the laboratory 55 2.2 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Type: Supervised      
tutor sessions 2.5 0.1 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Type: Autonomous      
Study 5 0.2 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
questions resolution 5.25 0.21 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

The subject will be taught in the laboratory and in small groups of students

The attendance to the classes of this subject is obligatory since they imply an acquisition of competitions based on the practical work.

Practical classes of laboratory and data analysis.

The students carry out the experimental work in groups of 2 and under the supervision of the responsible professor.

The practical protocols and, if applicable, the questionnaires for response, will be available on the Virtual Campus of the subject.

Before beginning a practical session the student must have read the protocol and know therefore the objectives of the practice, the foundations and the procedures that must be carried out.

If so, you must know the specific safety and waste treatment measures.

In the practical sessions you have to take:

- Protocol and, if applicable, the questionnaire.

- A notebook to collect the information of the experimental work.

- Laboratory baton.

- Safety glasses.

- Permanent marker

Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.


Assessment

Continous Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Basic Chemistry. Question solution 17 1 0.04 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10
Basic instrumental technics. Question answers 12 1 0.04 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10
Cellular biology. Question resolutions 25 0.25 0.01 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
Mathematics 21 3 0.12 1, 2, 4, 5, 6
Physics 25 2 0.08 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7

Cell Biology

The lab work will be evaluated by questionnaires in which students will have to answer, at the end of each of the practical sessions. The final qualification of the module will be obtained from the average grade of the 3 questionnaires.

Students with one or more unjustified absences will receive a maximum score of 3.5 points and will not be able to take any recovery tests, implying that they cannot exceed the theme of the integrated lab 1.

Basic instrumental techniques

The practices will be evaluated taking into account:

The resolution of questionnaires in which it will be evaluated:

• Understanding the basics of experimental methods.

• The ability to process and analyze experimental data.

• The ability to interpret experimental results.

The follow-up of the experimental work in the laboratory in which it will be evaluated:

• Preliminary preparation work, especially in those practices that require previous calculations.

• The application of the general rules of safety and operation of a laboratory.

• The application of waste disposal processes.

• The ability to work as a team.

Maths:

30% of the note of this module will be given by the correct realization of the practices. The remaining 70% will be obtained with a problem-solving test with a computer.

Fundamentals of Chemistry

The assessment will be carried out by carrying out a brief questionnaire at the beginning of each practice onthe content that must be known by the students to carry it out (15% of the total);

The delivery of a final report on the practice carried out at the end of each session in the laboratory.

Physics

The evaluation will be carried out through the completion of lab reports corresponding to the lab activities 1 and 2.

The final assessment ofthe part of the subject will be obtained from the weighted average of the assessment of lab activities 1 and 2.

 

The final evaluation of the subjectwill be obtained from the weighted average of the evaluation of the different contents.

Single assessment

For those students who take the single assessment is compulsory to do the laboratory practices (PLAB) in the scheduled sessions with the rest of the group.

The single assessment consists of a single synthesis test with questions from all the integrated laboratory modules on the day scheduled in the academic calendar. The grade obtained in the synthesis test is 70% of the final grade of the subject. The attitude during the practices and attendance will be the remaining 30%.

The same retake system will be applied as for the continuous assessment.


General considerations
Since attendance to the activities programmed in these subjects is mandatory, the absence of any of them must be justified. In order to be able to pass the subject, it is required a global attendance of at least 80% of the scheduled sessions and obtain the minimum qualification set for each module.
It will be considered that a student obtains the Non-Appraising Qualification when he has attended less than 20% of the scheduled sessions.
Students who do not obtain the minimum qualification required to be able to pass each of the modules of the integrated laboratory will not pass the subject. In this case, the final maximum grade of the subject will be 4

.
From the second enrollment, repeat students will only have to evaluate the specific modules that have not been exceeded.
This exemption will be maintained for a period of three additional license enrollments.

 

Bibliography

Biologia Cel·lular

Alberts B, Johnson A, Lewis J, Raff M, Roberts K, Walter P. Biología Molecular de la Célula. 6ª Edición. Ediciones Omega S.A. 2016. ISBN: 978-84-282-1638-8.

Lodish H, Berk A, Kaiser CA, Krieger M, Bretscher A, Ploegh H, Martin KC, Yaffe M, Amon A. Molecular Cell Biology. 9th Edition. Macmillan Learning. 2021. ISBN: 9781319365493.

http://www.medicapanamericana.com.are.uab.cat/visorebookv2/ebook/9789500694841#{%22Pagina%22:%22Portada%22,%22Vista%22:%22Indice%22,%22Busqueda%22:%22%22}

Math


There is no specifici bibliography

 


Software

Math

wxmaxima: https://wxmaxima-developers.github.io/wxmaxima/help.html

 

Basic Instrumental Techniques

GelAnalyzer 19.1 (www.gelanalyzer.com) by Istvan Lazar Jr., PhD and Istvan Lazar Sr., PhD, CSc

Schneider, C. A., Rasband, W. S., & Eliceiri, K. W. (2012). NIH Image to ImageJ: 25 years of image analysis. Nature Methods9(7), 671–675. doi:10.1038/nmeth.2089

Excel: microsoft.com


Language list

Name Group Language Semester Turn
(PLAB) Practical laboratories 311 Catalan/Spanish first semester morning-mixed
(PLAB) Practical laboratories 312 Catalan/Spanish first semester morning-mixed
(PLAB) Practical laboratories 313 Catalan/Spanish first semester morning-mixed