Integrated Laboratory Class 1
Code: 100886 ECTS Credits: 3| Degree | Type | Year |
|---|---|---|
| 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.
Learning Outcomes
- CM22 (Competence) Clearly and concisely describe experimental results in the field of biochemistry, considering options for improvement.
- CM23 (Competence) Work as a team when performing experiments and analysing their results.
- CM24 (Competence) Understand disposal methods for the different types of waste generated in a biochemistry or molecular biology laboratory.
- KM26 (Knowledge) Identify cell systems useful for experimentation in biochemistry and molecular biology.
- KM27 (Knowledge) Describe the theoretical foundations and instrumentation used in basic and advanced biochemistry.
- SM25 (Skill) Use digital resources to search for information, study biomolecules and calculate key parameters.
- SM26 (Skill) Interpret experimental results obtained using the main techniques of biochemistry.
- SM27 (Skill) Apply the techniques and methods for addressing cell culture techniques, classical genetics, immunological detection, recombinant DNA, separation, purification and analysis of biomolecules in the biochemical field.
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 | CM22, CM23, CM24, KM26, KM27, SM25, SM26, SM27, CM22 |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| tutor sessions | 2.5 | 0.1 | CM22, CM23, CM24, KM26, KM27, SM25, SM26, SM27, CM22 |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| questions resolution | 5.25 | 0.21 | CM22, CM23, CM24, KM26, KM27, SM25, SM26, SM27, CM22 |
| Study | 5 | 0.2 | CM22, CM23, CM24, KM26, KM27, SM25, SM26, SM27, CM22 |
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 | CM22, CM23, CM24, KM27, SM25, SM26, SM27 |
| Basic instrumental technics. Question answers | 12 | 1 | 0.04 | CM22, CM23, CM24, KM26, KM27, SM25, SM26, SM27 |
| Cellular biology. Question resolutions | 25 | 0.25 | 0.01 | CM22, CM23, CM24, KM26, KM27, SM25, SM26, SM27 |
| Mathematics | 21 | 3 | 0.12 | CM22, CM23, KM27, SM25, SM26 |
| Physics | 25 | 2 | 0.08 | CM22, CM23, CM24, KM27, SM25, SM26, SM27 |
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.
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 Methods, 9(7), 671–675. doi:10.1038/nmeth.2089
Excel: microsoft.com
Groups and Languages
Please note that this information is provisional until 30 November 2025. You can check it through this link. To consult the language you will need to enter the CODE of the subject.
| Name | Group | Language | Semester | Turn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (PLAB) Practical laboratories | 311 | Catalan | first semester | morning-mixed |
| (PLAB) Practical laboratories | 312 | Catalan | first semester | morning-mixed |
| (PLAB) Practical laboratories | 313 | Catalan | first semester | morning-mixed |