Knowledge in biochemistry and molecular biology (BMB) has grown exponentially in recent years. Words like DNA, transgenic, genome, stem cells, prions or AIDS are frequently present in the “news” and the language of young people. However, most secondary school students do not understand these terms and do not appreciate the contribution of biochemistry and molecular biology to our day-to-day lives, for example to health, the environment, the economy, etc. As a result, secondary school teachers are facing an increasing number of questions by their students on the meaning of these words and their context in biochemistry.

In Spain’s secondary schools, few concepts in biochemistry and molecular biology are explained and these are only given in biology and chemistry courses. Moreover, the number of laboratory experiments is particularly low. Furthermore, many science teachers in secondary schools do not hold degrees in Biology and/or graduated around 1970-1980 when university curricula did not include Molecular Biology.

In Spain, university science degrees are divided in 3 periods (cycles), biochemistry is a two-year second cycle degree and students must previously complete a first cycle (2-3 years) in chemistry, biology, pharmacy, medicine or veterinary medicine to enroll. Because biochemistry is included in the second cycle, secondary school students are given little or no information regarding this option.

To stimulate secondary students’ interest in biochemistry and to increase the knowledge of their teachers in the new developments in this field and to improve the experiments performed at this level of education, the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of the University of Barcelona [1], in collaboration with The Spanish Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and The Catalan Board of Teachers (Generalitat de Catalunya-Regional Government) [2], has organized two course programmes, one addressed to secondary school students [3] and the other to their teachers [4]. Moreover, a handbook on experiments has been published [5].

The course “I ♥ biochemistry” started in 1997 for students in their final year of secondary school and has now been running for 8 years. The one-week course aims to introduce these students to biochemistry, to increase their research vocation and to orient those interested in biochemistry and molecular and cellular biology.

A total of 4,686 applications have been received over these years. The number of yearly applications has now stabilized at between 400 to 500. The applicants are requested to write a letter stating their interest in the course and this must be accompanied by a recommendation from their science teacher. These two documents together with the students’ academic records are used to make a first selection, which reduces the number of candidates to around 100.

On one Saturday, the 100 selected applicants are invited to laboratories at the Dept. of BMB to perform a number of experiments which are supervised by PhD students and Faculty members. In addition, the candidates are interviewed to establish their level of motivation and interest in BBM, after which the most promising 24 students are invited to do the full course.

Each day of the course includes laboratory classes and lectures. Before commencing laboratory practice (DNA extraction, glucose concentration, internet and biochemistry…), an extensive explanation, scientific fundaments, use of instruments and a protocol of each experiment is given by PhD students. The discussion of results and procedures is stimulated at all times.

Lectures (protein DNA and RNA, metabolism, biotechnology, gene therapy, molecular pathology,…, the most important aims in biochemistry and molecular biology) are delivered by professors of the University of Barcelona and other universities.

Over informal lunch breaks, students have the opportunity to ask questions, talk about research in the university, and discuss science related topics with their instructors (normally PhD students), Faculty members and lecturers. Students are also advised on the academic options that lead to a degree in Biochemistry.

Part of the final day is devoted to stimulating the analytical capacity of students through the presentation, comparison and discussion of experimental results.

Student feedback is collected through a questionnaire. This survey indicates that students greatly appreciate the opportunity to perform experiments as these are not compulsory activities in secondary school curricula. A very good interaction between the students and the lecturers and the personal interaction with the instructors are also marked.

89 % of students who participated in the 8 courses have been followed-up to check their study choice and i) most chose degrees, first cycle, with a considerably presence of biochemistry in their programmes, ii) 27 % had enrolled on a biochemistry degree and iii) 14 % had enrolled on a doctoral degree in biochemistry (PhD).

The 30-hour course “Updating in biochemistry and molecular biology” was started in 1998 for secondary school science teachers and has been running for 7 years.

Many of these teachers in Spain have a limited knowledge of BMB because some did not graduate in biology or, particularly for senior staff, molecular biology concepts were not available at the time they studied their degrees. Furthermore, most teachers limit their programs to “classic” chemistry and biology and rarely give laboratory classes that address modern biochemistry. Therefore, their students frequently have little awareness of this field of science. Furthermore, secondary school curricula in Catalonia now include a compulsory research project that must be done by each individual student. Given that these projects are supervised by science teachers, they now require up-to-date information about attractive topics that could be addressed.

The course aims to consolidate knowledge in biochemistry, to provide science teachers with a set of biochemical and molecular biology experiments that can be used in their laboratories and to propose ideas on potential research projects for the students.

In the 7 years that the course has been running, 24 secondary teachers have enrolled every year. 79 % of participants held a degree in Biology; 15 % in Chemistry, 2 % in Pharmacy, 3 % in Geology and 1 % in Veterinary Medicine. Participants were on average 48 years old and they graduated around 1980.

The course includes lectures and practical classes. Lectures, given by Faculty members of the Dept. of BMB at the University of Barcelona and invited speakers from other universities, cover areas such as PCR, gene expression, DNA chips, biotechnology and the most important current applications of biochemistry. Examples and discussion with lecturers increase secondary teachers’ interest in biochemistry and provide them with the answers to their students’ questions about the current topics in BMB.

Laboratory classes are given by PhD students and Faculty staff. These classes give an extensive explanation, scientific fundaments, use of instruments and a protocol of each experiment.

Participants, in small groups, use restriction enzymes to manipulate DNA, ELISA, PCR, cellular culture and chromatography procedures, among others. The discussion of results, procedures and also conclusions is stimulated at all times.

Participants are provided with a booklet on biochemistry and molecular biology research projects in secondary schools, which is discussed on the last day of the course. Dietary fat, war on bacteria, flies and genes, plant proteases or the chlorophyll around the sun are some of the projects covered in the booklet. They are developed as a scientific paper, and therefore include objectives, introduction, material and methods, results, conclusions and references. At the end of each project, there is a list of potential spin-off studies, thereby simplifying the teachers work by providing ideas on research topics for their students.

A questionnaire is used to obtain an overall evaluation of the course. The results indicate that secondary school science teachers appreciate the opportunity to bring their knowledge on this scientific field up to date and highlight the good working relationship established between lecturers, PhD students and Faculty staff.

A few years after taking the course, participants are asked to complete another questionnaire which assesses the changes incorporated into their teaching of biochemistry and molecular biology.

The results obtained show that i) 70 % of the interviewees had incorporated the new information into their theory classes and 23 % planned to use this information in the future, ii) 48% of the interviewees had incorporated the new information into their laboratory classes and 34 % planned to use this information in the future, iii) 86 % expressed that the course had completely changed the explanations that they gave in BMB classes, iv) 100 % had used the research project booklet.

Secondary school students and their science teachers have received the courses with great enthusiasm. These courses promote research in secondary schools and are good examples of the relationship necessary between the University and the secondary school and highlight on the one hand, the educational facet of the former and on the other, the interest in increasing knowledge and research in biochemistry and molecular biology in the latter. Moreover, the courses have now become reference models for other disciplines.

[4] J.M. Fernŕndez-Novell, E. Cid, R.R. Gomis, A. Barberŕ and J.J. Guinovart. A Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Course for Secondary School Teachers. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education. (in press)