LINKS BETWEEN MOLECULAR BIOLOGY RESEARCH, EDUCATION AND LEARNING BY INTEGRATING WET LAB AND IN SILICO LAB

This project derives direction and ideas from my recent experience derived from ungoing project, funded under the Ministry of University and Scientific Research, aimed at bringing the students of high school to work.

For enhanced education at the level of University courses such as those in Molecular Biology or biotechnology, one of the key elements is the need of time and expertise to allow the high school student to familiarize with regular theory in par with laboratory techniques.

Among the first labs virtualized, preliminary studies were on informational macromolecules starting with nucleic acids (DNA) and proteins, and in particular on their electrophoretic separation on agarose and poliacrilamide gels . I obtained a free trial from the Journal of Visualized Experiments (styled JoVE) a peer-reviewed scientific journal that publishes experimental methods in video format.

The virtual agarose and or acrylamide gel electrophoresis derived from the two Jove section: those of General Laboratory Techniques (SE1) and on BASIC Mathods on Cellular and Molecular Biology (SE2)laboratory provides an opportunity for students participation to the project to integrated classroom lesson with detailed techniques and protocols of a real laboratory, generally, one or two weeks later their own experience in a Molecular BIOLOGY laboratory at DEPARTMENT of BIOLOGY of University of Naples Federico II.

Moreover, the english language of the virtual laboratory was an additional education value and a different Learning context useful to potentiate the foreign language.

This very positive experience will be tansferred in the near future to Undergratuate students flipping the virtual laboratory and theoretical lessons to the wet laboratory.