Biotecnologia: concepção e validação de trabalhos práticos

Doutoramento em BiologiaÉ hoje geralmente aceite que a educação em ciências, além da aprendizagem de conhecimento conceptual e procedimental, deve promover nos alunos o desenvolvimento de competências investigativas, ou seja, competências para identificar, formular e resolver problemas. Porém, o desenvolvimento de actividades práticas de natureza investigativa é difícil, pela carência, ou mesmo ausência, de vivências dos professores em investigações, sobretudo em projectos aplicáveis nas práticas lectivas. A frequente falta de formação inicial e contínua dos professores de ciências, relativamente ao desenvolvimento de competências indispensáveis à implementação desta perspectiva de trabalho prático, constitui um obstáculo à concretização de inovações educativas preconizadas para a educação em ciências, referidas em documentos aprovados e publicados pelo Ministério da Educação, em particular, orientações curriculares e programas disciplinares. A abordagem de temáticas em biotecnologia configura-se como uma necessidade das sociedades actuais, de modo que, atendendo aos avanços que se têm vindo a verificar nesta área, deverá integrar-se em educação científica formal, relacionando-a com a vida quotidiana dos cidadãos. Além de componentes científicas inovadoras, os seus desenvolvimentos têm diversas implicações, designadamente éticas, políticas, económicas e sociais. A investigação apresentada nesta dissertação insere-se neste quadro, a qual se baseou no seguinte problema: “Partindo de temáticas em biotecnologia, como estimular o desenvolvimento de trabalho prático numa perspectiva investigativa por professores de Biologia e/ou Geologia?”. Definiram-se dois objectivos gerais: 1) testar, conceber e optimizar actividades laboratoriais e experimentais em biotecnologia, transponíveis para contextos educativos dos ensinos básico e secundário, desmistificando a complexidade associada ao trabalho prático nesta área; 2) conceber, implementar e avaliar uma acção de formação para professores de Biologia e/ou Geologia, na modalidade de Oficina de Formação, visando em contextos escolares e em temáticas de biotecnologia, desenvolver percursos investigativos. A acção de formação “Desenvolvimento de actividades práticas em biotecnologia numa perspectiva investigativa: um contributo na (re)orientação de ensino e aprendizagem de ciências” estimulou os professores-formandos a participarem activamente num programa que integrava abordagens inovadoras de trabalho prático, e criou condições para, com orientação e apoio, desenvolverem percursos investigativos a partir de situações-problema em temáticas de biotecnologia. Na generalidade, as reflexões dos professores-formandos sobre os percursos investigativos planeados e implementados, e os ganhos a nível profissional e/ou pessoal, além de referências elogiosas à estrutura e sequência das actividades propostas na formação, realçaram os seguintes aspectos positivos: a) o enriquecimento de conhecimentos científico-tecnológicos em biotecnologia; b) a oportunidade de reflexão sobre as suas práticas e a necessidade de uma nova forma de olhar para o trabalho laboratorial e experimental e para o seu papel nas aulas de ciências; c) as potencialidades de trabalho prático numa perspectiva investigativa em termos de mobilização de competências de natureza conceptual e processual; d) o desenvolvimento de competências técnicas e processuais necessárias à implementação de percursos investigativos com recurso a procedimentos em biotecnologia. Do presente estudo decorrem implicações educacionais que se esperam pertinentes para a formação de professores de ciências e elaboração de recursos didácticos, designadamente manuais escolares, assim como, para a gestão dos programas disciplinares. Este estudo permitiu, ainda, apresentar propostas para futuras investigações.It is currently recognised that science education, besides providing the learning of conceptual and procedural knowledge, must endorse in the students the development of research competences, i.e., the competences to identify, formulate and solve problems. However, the development of practical activities of research nature are difficult, by the shortage, or even absence, of teachers’ experiences in research, mostly in projects applicable to teaching practices. The recurrent lack of initial and continuing training of science teachers, for the development of skills needed to implement this perspective of practical work, is an obstacle to the implementation of educational innovations promoted for science education, and reported in documents published by the Ministry of Education, in particular, in curricular guidelines and in disciplinary programs. Approaching themes in biotechnology seems to be a necessity of modern society, so that, given the advances that have been observed in this field, it shall be integrated into formal scientific education, and be connected with the everyday lives of citizens. In addition to innovative scientific components, its exploitation has several implications, namely ethical, political, economic and social ones. The investigation presented in this thesis fits into this framework, which was based on the following problem: "Using the thematic of biotechnology, how to stimulate the development of practical work within an investigative perspective for teachers of biology and/or geology?". We defined two general objectives: 1) to test, design and optimize laboratorial and experimental activities in biotechnology, transferable to educational contexts of primary and secondary education, demystifying the complexities associated with practical work in this area; 2) to design, implement and evaluate a training action for teachers of biology and/or geology, in the form of training workshop, aiming at developing investigative pathways, in school contexts and using themes of biotechnology. The training action "Development of practical activities in biotechnology within an investigative perspective: a contribute to the (re)orientation of teaching and learning in sciences" encouraged teachers to participate actively in a program that integrated innovative approaches into practical work, and created conditions in order to, with guidance and support, develop investigative pathways using problem-situations in biotechnology issues. Overall, the teachers reflected on: the planned and implemented investigative pathways; the incomes at a professional and/or personnel levels. These reflections and the positive references to the structure and sequence of the proposed activities highlighted the following aspects: a) the enrichment of scientific and technological knowledge in biotechnology; b) the opportunity to reflect on their practices and the need for a new way of looking at the laboratorial and experimental work and their role in science classes; c) the potential for practical work in an investigative perspective in terms of mobilization of expertise; d) the development of measures to implement investigative routes using procedures in biotechnology. From the present study educational implications emerged that one hopes to be appropriate to the training of science teachers and to the elaboration of teaching resources, including scholar manuals, as well as for the management of course programs. This study also allowed to present proposals for future research

Physics case for an LHCb Upgrade II - Opportunities in flavour physics, and beyond, in the HL-LHC era

The LHCb Upgrade II will fully exploit the flavour-physics opportunities of the HL-LHC, and study additional physics topics that take advantage of the forward acceptance of the LHCb spectrometer. The LHCb Upgrade I will begin operation in 2020. Consolidation will occur, and modest enhancements of the Upgrade I detector will be installed, in Long Shutdown 3 of the LHC (2025) and these are discussed here. The main Upgrade II detector will be installed in long shutdown 4 of the LHC (2030) and will build on the strengths of the current LHCb experiment and the Upgrade I. It will operate at a luminosity up to 2×1034 cm−2s−1, ten times that of the Upgrade I detector. New detector components will improve the intrinsic performance of the experiment in certain key areas. An Expression Of Interest proposing Upgrade II was submitted in February 2017. The physics case for the Upgrade II is presented here in more depth. CP-violating phases will be measured with precisions unattainable at any other envisaged facility. The experiment will probe b → sl+l−and b → dl+l− transitions in both muon and electron decays in modes not accessible at Upgrade I. Minimal flavour violation will be tested with a precision measurement of the ratio of B(B0 → μ+μ−)/B(Bs → μ+μ−). Probing charm CP violation at the 10−5 level may result in its long sought discovery. Major advances in hadron spectroscopy will be possible, which will be powerful probes of low energy QCD. Upgrade II potentially will have the highest sensitivity of all the LHC experiments on the Higgs to charm-quark couplings. Generically, the new physics mass scale probed, for fixed couplings, will almost double compared with the pre-HL-LHC era; this extended reach for flavour physics is similar to that which would be achieved by the HE-LHC proposal for the energy frontier

LHCb upgrade software and computing : technical design report

This document reports the Research and Development activities that are carried out in the software and computing domains in view of the upgrade of the LHCb experiment. The implementation of a full software trigger implies major changes in the core software framework, in the event data model, and in the reconstruction algorithms. The increase of the data volumes for both real and simulated datasets requires a corresponding scaling of the distributed computing infrastructure. An implementation plan in both domains is presented, together with a risk assessment analysis

Measurement of the ratios of branching fractions R(D∗)\mathcal{R}(D^{*}) and R(D0)\mathcal{R}(D^{0})

The ratios of branching fractions $\mathcal{R}(D^{*})\equiv\mathcal{B}(\bar{B}\to D^{*}\tau^{-}\bar{\nu}_{\tau})/\mathcal{B}(\bar{B}\to D^{*}\mu^{-}\bar{\nu}_{\mu})$ and $\mathcal{R}(D^{0})\equiv\mathcal{B}(B^{-}\to D^{0}\tau^{-}\bar{\nu}_{\tau})/\mathcal{B}(B^{-}\to D^{0}\mu^{-}\bar{\nu}_{\mu})$ are measured, assuming isospin symmetry, using a sample of proton-proton collision data corresponding to 3.0 fb${ }^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity recorded by the LHCb experiment during 2011 and 2012. The tau lepton is identified in the decay mode $\tau^{-}\to\mu^{-}\nu_{\tau}\bar{\nu}_{\mu}$. The measured values are $\mathcal{R}(D^{*})=0.281\pm0.018\pm0.024$ and $\mathcal{R}(D^{0})=0.441\pm0.060\pm0.066$, where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second is systematic. The correlation between these measurements is $\rho=-0.43$. Results are consistent with the current average of these quantities and are at a combined 1.9 standard deviations from the predictions based on lepton flavor universality in the Standard Model.Comment: All figures and tables, along with any supplementary material and additional information, are available at https://cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/p/LHCb-PAPER-2022-039.html (LHCb public pages

Multidifferential study of identified charged hadron distributions in ZZ-tagged jets in proton-proton collisions at s=\sqrt{s}=13 TeV

Jet fragmentation functions are measured for the first time in proton-proton collisions for charged pions, kaons, and protons within jets recoiling against a $Z$ boson. The charged-hadron distributions are studied longitudinally and transversely to the jet direction for jets with transverse momentum 20 $< p_{\textrm{T}} < 100$ GeV and in the pseudorapidity range $2.5 < \eta < 4$. The data sample was collected with the LHCb experiment at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 1.64 fb$^{-1}$. Triple differential distributions as a function of the hadron longitudinal momentum fraction, hadron transverse momentum, and jet transverse momentum are also measured for the first time. This helps constrain transverse-momentum-dependent fragmentation functions. Differences in the shapes and magnitudes of the measured distributions for the different hadron species provide insights into the hadronization process for jets predominantly initiated by light quarks.Comment: All figures and tables, along with machine-readable versions and any supplementary material and additional information, are available at https://cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/p/LHCb-PAPER-2022-013.html (LHCb public pages

Study of the B−→Λc+Λˉc−K−B^{-} \to \Lambda_{c}^{+} \bar{\Lambda}_{c}^{-} K^{-} decay

The decay $B^{-} \to \Lambda_{c}^{+} \bar{\Lambda}_{c}^{-} K^{-}$ is studied in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV using data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5 $\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$ collected by the LHCb experiment. In the $\Lambda_{c}^+ K^{-}$ system, the $\Xi_{c}(2930)^{0}$ state observed at the BaBar and Belle experiments is resolved into two narrower states, $\Xi_{c}(2923)^{0}$ and $\Xi_{c}(2939)^{0}$, whose masses and widths are measured to be $$m(\Xi_{c}(2923)^{0}) = 2924.5 \pm 0.4 \pm 1.1 \,\mathrm{MeV}, \\ m(\Xi_{c}(2939)^{0}) = 2938.5 \pm 0.9 \pm 2.3 \,\mathrm{MeV}, \\ \Gamma(\Xi_{c}(2923)^{0}) = \phantom{000}4.8 \pm 0.9 \pm 1.5 \,\mathrm{MeV},\\ \Gamma(\Xi_{c}(2939)^{0}) = \phantom{00}11.0 \pm 1.9 \pm 7.5 \,\mathrm{MeV},$$ where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second systematic. The results are consistent with a previous LHCb measurement using a prompt $\Lambda_{c}^{+} K^{-}$ sample. Evidence of a new $\Xi_{c}(2880)^{0}$ state is found with a local significance of $3.8\,\sigma$, whose mass and width are measured to be $2881.8 \pm 3.1 \pm 8.5\,\mathrm{MeV}$ and $12.4 \pm 5.3 \pm 5.8 \,\mathrm{MeV}$, respectively. In addition, evidence of a new decay mode $\Xi_{c}(2790)^{0} \to \Lambda_{c}^{+} K^{-}$ is found with a significance of $3.7\,\sigma$. The relative branching fraction of $B^{-} \to \Lambda_{c}^{+} \bar{\Lambda}_{c}^{-} K^{-}$ with respect to the $B^{-} \to D^{+} D^{-} K^{-}$ decay is measured to be $2.36 \pm 0.11 \pm 0.22 \pm 0.25$, where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second systematic and the third originates from the branching fractions of charm hadron decays.Comment: All figures and tables, along with any supplementary material and additional information, are available at https://cern.ch/lhcbproject/Publications/p/LHCb-PAPER-2022-028.html (LHCb public pages

Worldwide trends in underweight and obesity from 1990 to 2022: a pooled analysis of 3663 population-representative studies with 222 million children, adolescents, and adults

Background Underweight and obesity are associated with adverse health outcomes throughout the life course. We estimated the individual and combined prevalence of underweight or thinness and obesity, and their changes, from 1990 to 2022 for adults and school-aged children and adolescents in 200 countries and territories. Methods We used data from 3663 population-based studies with 222 million participants that measured height and weight in representative samples of the general population. We used a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate trends in the prevalence of different BMI categories, separately for adults (age ≥20 years) and school-aged children and adolescents (age 5–19 years), from 1990 to 2022 for 200 countries and territories. For adults, we report the individual and combined prevalence of underweight (BMI &lt;18·5 kg/m2) and obesity (BMI ≥30 kg/m2). For school&#x2;aged children and adolescents, we report thinness (BMI &lt;2 SD below the median of the WHO growth reference) and obesity (BMI &gt;2 SD above the median). Findings From 1990 to 2022, the combined prevalence of underweight and obesity in adults decreased in 11 countries (6%) for women and 17 (9%) for men with a posterior probability of at least 0·80 that the observed changes were true decreases. The combined prevalence increased in 162 countries (81%) for women and 140 countries (70%) for men with a posterior probability of at least 0·80. In 2022, the combined prevalence of underweight and obesity was highest in island nations in the Caribbean and Polynesia and Micronesia, and countries in the Middle East and north Africa. Obesity prevalence was higher than underweight with posterior probability of at least 0·80 in 177 countries (89%) for women and 145 (73%) for men in 2022, whereas the converse was true in 16 countries (8%) for women, and 39 (20%) for men. From 1990 to 2022, the combined prevalence of thinness and obesity decreased among girls in five countries (3%) and among boys in 15 countries (8%) with a posterior probability of at least 0·80, and increased among girls in 140 countries (70%) and boys in 137 countries (69%) with a posterior probability of at least 0·80. The countries with highest combined prevalence of thinness and obesity in school-aged children and adolescents in 2022 were in Polynesia and Micronesia and the Caribbean for both sexes, and Chile and Qatar for boys. Combined prevalence was also high in some countries in south Asia, such as India and Pakistan, where thinness remained prevalent despite having declined. In 2022, obesity in school-aged children and adolescents was more prevalent than thinness with a posterior probability of at least 0·80 among girls in 133 countries (67%) and boys in 125 countries (63%), whereas the converse was true in 35 countries (18%) and 42 countries (21%), respectively. In almost all countries for both adults and school-aged children and adolescents, the increases in double burden were driven by increases in obesity, and decreases in double burden by declining underweight or thinness. Interpretation The combined burden of underweight and obesity has increased in most countries, driven by an increase in obesity, while underweight and thinness remain prevalent in south Asia and parts of Africa. A healthy nutrition transition that enhances access to nutritious foods is needed to address the remaining burden of underweight while curbing and reversing the increase in obesit

Mortality from gastrointestinal congenital anomalies at 264 hospitals in 74 low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries: a multicentre, international, prospective cohort study

Summary Background Congenital anomalies are the fifth leading cause of mortality in children younger than 5 years globally. Many gastrointestinal congenital anomalies are fatal without timely access to neonatal surgical care, but few studies have been done on these conditions in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). We compared outcomes of the seven most common gastrointestinal congenital anomalies in low-income, middle-income, and high-income countries globally, and identified factors associated with mortality. Methods We did a multicentre, international prospective cohort study of patients younger than 16 years, presenting to hospital for the first time with oesophageal atresia, congenital diaphragmatic hernia, intestinal atresia, gastroschisis, exomphalos, anorectal malformation, and Hirschsprung’s disease. Recruitment was of consecutive patients for a minimum of 1 month between October, 2018, and April, 2019. We collected data on patient demographics, clinical status, interventions, and outcomes using the REDCap platform. Patients were followed up for 30 days after primary intervention, or 30 days after admission if they did not receive an intervention. The primary outcome was all-cause, in-hospital mortality for all conditions combined and each condition individually, stratified by country income status. We did a complete case analysis. Findings We included 3849 patients with 3975 study conditions (560 with oesophageal atresia, 448 with congenital diaphragmatic hernia, 681 with intestinal atresia, 453 with gastroschisis, 325 with exomphalos, 991 with anorectal malformation, and 517 with Hirschsprung’s disease) from 264 hospitals (89 in high-income countries, 166 in middleincome countries, and nine in low-income countries) in 74 countries. Of the 3849 patients, 2231 (58·0%) were male. Median gestational age at birth was 38 weeks (IQR 36–39) and median bodyweight at presentation was 2·8 kg (2·3–3·3). Mortality among all patients was 37 (39·8%) of 93 in low-income countries, 583 (20·4%) of 2860 in middle-income countries, and 50 (5·6%) of 896 in high-income countries (p<0·0001 between all country income groups). Gastroschisis had the greatest difference in mortality between country income strata (nine [90·0%] of ten in lowincome countries, 97 [31·9%] of 304 in middle-income countries, and two [1·4%] of 139 in high-income countries; p≤0·0001 between all country income groups). Factors significantly associated with higher mortality for all patients combined included country income status (low-income vs high-income countries, risk ratio 2·78 [95% CI 1·88–4·11], p<0·0001; middle-income vs high-income countries, 2·11 [1·59–2·79], p<0·0001), sepsis at presentation (1·20 [1·04–1·40], p=0·016), higher American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score at primary intervention (ASA 4–5 vs ASA 1–2, 1·82 [1·40–2·35], p<0·0001; ASA 3 vs ASA 1–2, 1·58, [1·30–1·92], p<0·0001]), surgical safety checklist not used (1·39 [1·02–1·90], p=0·035), and ventilation or parenteral nutrition unavailable when needed (ventilation 1·96, [1·41–2·71], p=0·0001; parenteral nutrition 1·35, [1·05–1·74], p=0·018). Administration of parenteral nutrition (0·61, [0·47–0·79], p=0·0002) and use of a peripherally inserted central catheter (0·65 [0·50–0·86], p=0·0024) or percutaneous central line (0·69 [0·48–1·00], p=0·049) were associated with lower mortality. Interpretation Unacceptable differences in mortality exist for gastrointestinal congenital anomalies between lowincome, middle-income, and high-income countries. Improving access to quality neonatal surgical care in LMICs will be vital to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 3.2 of ending preventable deaths in neonates and children younger than 5 years by 2030

31st Annual Meeting and Associated Programs of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC 2016) : part two

Background The immunological escape of tumors represents one of the main ob- stacles to the treatment of malignancies. The blockade of PD-1 or CTLA-4 receptors represented a milestone in the history of immunotherapy. However, immune checkpoint inhibitors seem to be effective in specific cohorts of patients. It has been proposed that their efficacy relies on the presence of an immunological response. Thus, we hypothesized that disruption of the PD-L1/PD-1 axis would synergize with our oncolytic vaccine platform PeptiCRAd. Methods We used murine B16OVA in vivo tumor models and flow cytometry analysis to investigate the immunological background. Results First, we found that high-burden B16OVA tumors were refractory to combination immunotherapy. However, with a more aggressive schedule, tumors with a lower burden were more susceptible to the combination of PeptiCRAd and PD-L1 blockade. The therapy signifi- cantly increased the median survival of mice (Fig. 7). Interestingly, the reduced growth of contralaterally injected B16F10 cells sug- gested the presence of a long lasting immunological memory also against non-targeted antigens. Concerning the functional state of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), we found that all the immune therapies would enhance the percentage of activated (PD-1pos TIM- 3neg) T lymphocytes and reduce the amount of exhausted (PD-1pos TIM-3pos) cells compared to placebo. As expected, we found that PeptiCRAd monotherapy could increase the number of antigen spe- cific CD8+ T cells compared to other treatments. However, only the combination with PD-L1 blockade could significantly increase the ra- tio between activated and exhausted pentamer positive cells (p= 0.0058), suggesting that by disrupting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis we could decrease the amount of dysfunctional antigen specific T cells. We ob- served that the anatomical location deeply influenced the state of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes. In fact, TIM-3 expression was in- creased by 2 fold on TILs compared to splenic and lymphoid T cells. In the CD8+ compartment, the expression of PD-1 on the surface seemed to be restricted to the tumor micro-environment, while CD4 + T cells had a high expression of PD-1 also in lymphoid organs. Interestingly, we found that the levels of PD-1 were significantly higher on CD8+ T cells than on CD4+ T cells into the tumor micro- environment (p < 0.0001). Conclusions In conclusion, we demonstrated that the efficacy of immune check- point inhibitors might be strongly enhanced by their combination with cancer vaccines. PeptiCRAd was able to increase the number of antigen-specific T cells and PD-L1 blockade prevented their exhaus- tion, resulting in long-lasting immunological memory and increased median survival

O ensino de genética e bioquímica nas escolas: concepção de protocolos para aplicação prática nas aulas

Mestrado em Ensino de Geologia e BiologiaA Biologia, apesar de ser uma ciência secular, encontra-se em evolução vertiginosa, sendo não só uma das ciências que mais evoluiu no século que agora terminou, como é por vezes apontada como a que mais influenciará as próximas gerações. O ensino de novos campos da Biologia nas escolas é hoje um requisito indispensável face aos avanços que esta área do conhecimento tem vindo a sofrer nos últimos anos. O entendimento de novos campos da Biologia passa, obrigatoriamente, pelo ensino de Genética Molecular e de Bioquímica, uma vez que a célula como unidade estrutural e funcional de todos os seres vivos não se limita a características estruturais e funcionais, revela-se também a nível molecular. O presente estudo visa sobretudo dar uma visão inovadora no que se refere à implementação no ensino secundário de novas actividades laboratoriais em áreas actuais de Biologia. Deste modo, pretende-se desmistificar a complexidade da Biologia Molecular e demonstrar que é possível realizar nos laboratórios escolares actividades inovadoras. Este trabalho de investigação foi dividido em duas partes. A primeira parte teve como objectivos adaptar/conceber, implementar e avaliar novos protocolos na área de Genética Molecular e Bioquímica, no âmbito do Ensino Experimental das Ciências. Nesta parte do trabalho os protocolos que foram objecto de estudo foram: “Extracção de DNA de células vegetais” e a “Quantificação de proteínas em alimentos pelo método de Lowry”. Estas actividades laboratoriais foram realizadas por um grupo de 47 alunos do 11º Ano da Escola Secundária D. Inês de Castro de Alcobaça, nas aulas de Ciências da Terra e da Vida. A avaliação do impacto destas actividades laboratoriais foi efectuada através da aplicação de um questionário – “Questionário de opiniões”. Os resultados obtidos mostraram que estas actividades influenciaram sobretudo as competências no domínio afectivo, tendo contribuído, fundamentalmente para tornar mais reais os fenómenos biológicos, para além de despertarem o interesse pela Ciência em geral e pela Biologia em particular. A segunda parte deste trabalho teve como objectivo efectuar o diagnóstico do interesse dos alunos pela realização de diversas actividades laboratoriais. Para o efeito foi aplicado um questionário a turmas do 11º Ano de Ciências da Terra e da Vida, em escolas dos distritos de Aveiro, Coimbra, Porto e Viseu, com um total de 160 inquiridos. Os resultados deste questionário mostraram que as actividades laboratoriais avaliadas com maior interesse pelos inquiridos foram: a “clonagem de plantas: cultura in vitro”, a “extracção de DNA” e a “observação de células em divisão (mitose e meiose)”.In spite of Biology being a secular science has very quick development in order to become one of the most developed sciences in this last century, being sometimes mentioned as the one that will influence the next generation. The teaching of new subjects of Biology in schools is today an essential requirement to face the progress that this area of knowledge has suffered in the last years. The understanding of the new subjects of Biology includes the obligatory teaching of Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry, because the cells as structural and functional unit of all live beings is not only limited to structural and functional characteristics, but is also on a molecular level. The actual learning aim mainly to give a new vision putting into practice in the secondary education, innovative laboratorial activities in current areas of Biology. Therefore the intention is to show that Molecular Biology is not complex and that it is possible to do innovative activities in the school laboratories. This research work was divided in two parts. The objectives of the first part were to adapt/conceive, fulfil and evaluate new protocols in the area of Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry fields. In this part of the work the protocols that were part of the learning were: “Extraction of DNA of plant cells” and “Quantification of food proteins by Lowry’s method”. These laboratorial activities were done by a group of 47 students from the 11th degree of the Alcobaça Secondary School D. Inês de Castro, in the classes of Earth and Life Sciences. The impact of appreciation of these laboratorial activities was made by using a questionary – “Questionary of opinions “. The results obtained in this study showed that the above mentioned activities influenced, especially, capacities on the affective domain. This has contributed, fundamentally, towards making Biological phenomenon’s more realistic and to help the interest for Science in general and for Biology in particular. The aim of the second part of the work was to determine the interest of the students in different laboratory activities. For that purpose a questionary was given to students of 11th degree of Earth and Life Sciences, in the schools of the districts of Aveiro, Coimbra, Porto e Viseu, with a total of 160 inquiries. The results of this questionary showed that the activities preferred by the students were: the “cloning of plants: culture in vitro”, the “extraction of DNA” and the “observation of the division of the cells (mitosis and meiosis)