For the first time, the Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas Alberto Sols (IIBM), CSIC-UAM, participates in the Spanish Biology Olympiad. The objective is to promote the interest of high school students in Biology
The IIBM groups led by Juan Manuel Zapata and Ángela Martínez Valverde welcome two excellent high school students and winners of the competition to encourage their passion for research
The Spanish Biology Olympiad (OEB) is a national competition that was born in 2005 and is organized by the Spanish Association of Biology Olympiads. This competition is open to students of 2nd year of Bachillerato from all over the country, with the aim of promoting the study of Biology and bringing students closer to the world of research.
First, regional competitions are held and the winners then participate in a national competition (the OEB). This year the XVII OEB was held at the University of Oviedo, where, among others, Marc Farrés Colom and Anna Gatell Puig from two high schools in the Autonomous Community of Catalonia won. The prize of these two students has been to stay for a week in a laboratory of our Center to learn techniques and make their own experiments.
Both students have been enthusiastic about what they have learned. Anna worked in Juan Manuel Zapata's lab and learned numerous techniques such as PCR, Western Blot, cell culture, as well as taking a few lessons on confocal microscopy and cytometry. "I was very impressed by the contrast between times when you have too many things to do and times when you just have to wait," says Anna, and then adds, "…and I was also very surprised to learn that science is extremely expensive".
Marc has also expressed his enjoyment of sharing life in Ángela Martínez Valverde's laboratory. There he learned how to extract and quantify proteins, how to do Western, primary cultures, etc. Marc is one of the winners of the silver medal at the OEB in Oviedo.
The IIBM congratulates both students Marc and Anna, as well as the research groups of Dr. Ángela Martínez-Valverde and Dr. Juan Manuel Zapata for this unique experience of sharing the passion for research.