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Paper chromatography is one of the commonly tested techniques in the biology olympiad. Therefore, you should be familiar with the mechanism of paper chromatography. In simple terms, chromatography involves the separation of chemical mixtures into individual components. Each chemical has a characteristic Rf value which describes the speed at which the molecule moves over the paper in comparison with the velocity of …

The biology olympiad is comprised of two parts: the practical test and the theory test. To prepare for the practicals you need to know how to use different chemicals in the lab. Below you will find a summary of the most important agents used in the biology lab. Enzymes Phosphatases Antarctic Phosphatase DNA polymerases Reverse Transcriptase Phusion Terminal Transferase Pfu …

Here are some useful links to find some simulations of lab experiments. Keep in mind that in the biology olympiad, practical skills are very important so don’t ignore it! https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/courses/ap-biology/classroom-resources/investigative-labs-comprehensive-links?course=ap-biology https://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulations/category/biology https://www.golabz.eu/ http://www.mhhe.com/biosci/genbio/virtual_labs_2K8/

There are many ways of expressing concentrations and dilution. Using C1V1 = C2V2 To make a fixed amount of a dilute solution from a stock solution, you can use the formula: C1V1 = C2V2 where: V1 = Volume of stock solution needed to make the new solution C1 = Concentration of stock solution V2 = Final volume of new solution C2 = Final concentration of new …

The official website of the International Biology Olympiad (IBO) released an updated guide to the IBO. You can access it here. The IBO practical examination should concentrate on the evaluation of competitors for their ability to solve given biological problems using the following skills. In the IBO tasks the names of organisms will be the national names (no description) together …

A very useful guide for statistical analysis and graphical representation of data can be found below.  http://www.radford.edu/~jkell/labs103.htm

An important technique used in ecology is mark recapture method. www.radford.edu/~jkell/mark_rec103.pdf

Sensitivity and specificity are statistical measures of the performance of a binary classification test. Below you will find a good handout about these two terms. http://www.jrss.in/data/35.pdf.  

Hi there, If SDS PAGE sounds like a ridiculous combination of letters, you urgently need to decipher what these letter mean and understand the mechanism of this technique. Firstly, watch the video. Then flick through the notes. http://web.mnstate.edu/provost/BiochemistryLabI.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyacrylamide_gel_electrophoresis A good tutorial about gel electrophoresis can be found HERE.  

Hey, During the IBO practical you may be asked to perform a protein purification and then make some calculations. Thus, let’s introduce yourself to protein purification. Firstly, read the notes. http://web.mnstate.edu/provost/BiochemistryLabI.html Then watch a video to visualize how this process appears in a lab.

Probably the first thing you will do when you go to the lab is to take the pipettor and measure the volume of some kind of solution. So let’s review the main steps how to deal with pipettors. http://web.mnstate.edu/provost/BiochemistryLabI.html Then take a look at this video. And this one, too.  

Hello, Today you will learn about ELISA – Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is a test that uses antibodies and color change to identify a substance.  Here and here you can find interactive ELISA tutorials. Here is another good interactive presentation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ELISA https://www.sdstate.edu/sdces/fcs/upload/ELISA_Part1_PPT.pdf

Hello, In this lesson you will learn how to use a hemocytometer and how to count cells in your culture.  http://web.mnstate.edu/provost/PlantandMamalianTissueCulture.htm. Firstly, take a look at a video so that you understand what it is all about. To end with, another good video.

Hi, In the previous post we discussed animal cell cultures and we now proceed to plant cell cultures which have some specific attributes to remember.  http://web.mnstate.edu/provost/PlantandMamalianTissueCulture.htm Take a look at the video about aseptic technique while working with plant tissues.

Hello, After some break, we will continue delving into biology.  In this lesson you will find out about animal cell cultures.  http://web.mnstate.edu/provost/PlantandMamalianTissueCulture.htm. Before we begin, take a look at this video which presents how everything looks in laboratory. To end with, one more video: Human cell vector created by brgfx – www.freepik.com

In practical tasks sometimes you may be asked to draw what you see. Usually, the rules must be followed to make good scientific drawings. So read carefully the theory bellow.  http://bioserv.fiu.edu/~biolab/labs/1011/supplemental_materials/Scientific%20drawnings.pdf

This is a second part about gene linkage: www.mun.ca/biology/dinnes/B2250/exercise7.pdf Some solved problems can be found in the slideshow: http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/biology/7-01sc-fundamentals-of-biology-fall-2011/genetics/linkage-and-recombination-genetic-maps/MIT7_01SCF11_3.2sol1.pdf. Genetic engineering vector created by pch.vector – www.freepik.com

Sometimes in olympiads you can confront with tricky polygenic inheritance problems. As I noticed, all you need to know in order to successfully solve polygenic inheritance problems is to be acquainted with probabilities and understand Pascal’s triangle shown below. Then, I share a compiled pdf with some theory and problems concerning polygenic inheritance: http://depts.washington.edu/genetics/courses/genet371b-aut00/public_html/problems/371B_practice_10.html Also, some good exercises can be …

  Bellow you will find short biochemistry problems set. www2.fiu.edu/~bch3033/probsolns/Ch01.doc.   Image source: Laboratory microscope vector created by freepik – www.freepik.com