Three students from La Salle College in Bilbao have participated in the workshop "Stimulating vitamin supplements or" allele "drugs? , developed by the Genomic Services and Analysis Center of Bizkaia belonging to the General Research Services (SGIker) of the UPV/EHU, which took place in Leioa on January 24, 2017.

For a better understanding of genomic techniques in the study of drug addiction related to individual genetic patterns, the technicians of the services, Dr. Irantzu Bernales, Irati Miguel and Fernando Rendo have taught them how to genotize marker panels related to Addiction through the Fluidigm Biomark platform.

They have been able to observe the damage done to DNA by a physical agent such as ultraviolet light, as a way of simulating the damage or modification that chemical agents such as drugs can cause. To do this, they have prepared two DNA samples each (original and replicate), treating the replicate by UV light. Subsequently they have quantified by fluorimetry both samples to observe the difference in quantification.

In the Central Analysis Service Dr. Luis Bartolome explained the complexity of the drugs and their mixtures both in the context of smart drugs and illegal drugs, for which they analyzed the remains of an alleged drug, identified possible Cut components used, through an extraction s/l and subsequent injection into a GC/MS and had first-hand knowledge of the fundamentals of chromatography and mass spectrometry.

At all times, the students were very active and participative with questions and doubts about the samples and their analysis.

This initiative responds to the line of action developed by the SGIker of the UPV/EHU, in its second year of edition, to encourage among young staff their inclination towards scientific careers, showing them the different facets of research activity.