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1 Article Assessment of Knowledge of Participants on Basic Molecular Biology Techniques After 5-Day Intensive Molecular Biology Training Workshops in Nigeria J. I. Yisau A. O. Adagbada T. Bamidele M. Fowora B. I. C. Brai O. Adebesin M. Bamidele T. Fesobi F. O. Nwaokorie A. Ajayi S. I. Smith * From the Molecular Biology and Biotechnology Division, Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria, Department of Cell Biology and Genetics, University of Lagos, Akoka, Lagos, Nigeria, Department of Microbiology, University of Lagos, Akoka, Lagos, Nigeria Abstract The deployment of molecular biology techniques for diagnosis and research in Nigeria is faced with a number of challenges, including the cost of equipment and reagents coupled with the dearth of personnel skilled in the procedures and handling of equipment. Short molecular biology training workshops were conducted at the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), to improve the knowledge and skills of laboratory personnel and academics in health, research, and educational facilities. Five-day molecular biology workshops were conducted annually between 2011 and 2014, with participants drawn from health, research facilities, and the academia. The courses consisted of theoretical and practical sessions. The impact of the workshops on knowledge and skill acquisition was evaluated by pre- and post-tests which consisted of 25 multiple choice and other questions. Sixty-five participants took part in the workshops. The mean knowledge of molecular biology as evaluated by the pre- and post-test assessments were 8.4 (95% CI ) and 13.0 (95 CI ), respectively. The mean post-test score was significantly greater than the mean pre-test score (p < ). The fiveday molecular biology workshop significantly increased the knowledge and skills of participants in molecular biology techniques. VC 2017 by The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 45(4): , Keywords: Molecular biology; techniques; training; assessment Introduction The burden of communicable and noncommunicable diseases are great in developing countries, therefore accurate diagnosis is essential for effective treatment. Diagnosis is Volume 45, Number 4, July/August 2017, Pages *To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel.: stellaismith@yahoo.com. Received 30 August 2016; Revised 28 October 2016; Accepted 13 November 2016 Disclosure: The authors hereby declare that there is no conflict of interest. Ethical approval: This article does not contain any study that required ethical approval. DOI /bmb Published online 1 February 2017 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) concerned with identifying the cause of a disease or precise and consistent outcomes that are results of direct or indirect actions, reactions and interactions between the cause of a disease and the host [1]. Prior to the advent of molecular biological methods for the detection and characterization of microorganisms, the emphasis of basic biomedical science was on studying diseases in patients and using diagnostic techniques such as isolation, culture, and microscopy [2, 3]. However with the development of molecular markers for infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, parasites, and for disease genes of noncommunicable diseases, molecular biology techniques have become attractive due to their high specificity, sensitivity, and turnaround time. Moleculartypingmethods,suchasrestrictionfragment length polymorphism (RFLP), pulse-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) have become increasingly useful in typing and discriminating Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education 313

2 Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education TABLE 1 Summary of educational background of participants No. of students Degree Field of specialty Institution 15 PhD 2-Parasitology 5-Biochemistry 4-Biotechnology 3-Microbiology 1-Genetics 16 MSc 2-Biochemistry 2-Biotechnology 4-Microbiology 8-Genetics 7 MBBS/MBDS 1-Oral Pathology & Biology 1-Obsterics & Gynecology 1-Preventive Medicine 2-Chemical Pathology 2-Medical Microbiology 13 BMLS/FIMLT 2-Haematology 2-Microbioloy 1-Virology 2-Parasitology All University 1-Research institute 1-Polytechnic 14-University All, University Teaching Hospitals 1-Polytechnic 4-Private laboratory 2-Research Institute 6-University Teaching Hospitals 1 HND Science Laboratory Technology Polytechnic 13 PhD students 4-Biochemistry 3- Cell Biology & Genetics 4-Microbiology 2-Molecular Genetics University Total 65 among pathogenic isolates, while PFGE is useful for the assessment of interrelatedness of pathogens, RFLP is used for typing pathogens of the same species, while RAPD is useful for the detection of genetic diversity in pathogens [4]. Useful as these techniques are, their deployment in Nigeria for disease diagnosis and biomedical research presents with myriads of challenges which includes the cost of equipment, reagents, and the skilled manpower to operate equipment for carrying out tests and accuracy in interpreting results. The requirement for skilled manpower is further heightened by the increase in number of postgraduate students carrying out researches that involves the use of molecular techniques. Studies have shown that training provides learners with hand-on experience and updates their knowledge, especially when combined with work on ongoing research in research laboratories [5]. The molecular biology workshop organized by the Molecular Biology Division of the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), was designed to bridge the knowledge gap in molecular biology techniques in Nigeria. The aims of the workshop were: 1. To train participants the art of molecular biology 2. To impart on participants the requisite knowledge to perform basic molecular biology techniques and their underlying principles 3. To acquaint participants with the ethics of their chosen fields of biology 4. To facilitate collaborations between participants and the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (participant participant interaction, NIMR participants interaction) 5. To contribute to the effort to increase the critical mass of molecular biologists in Nigeria Methodology Short courses in molecular biology were conducted to improve the skills of laboratory and research personnel to perform basic molecular biology techniques for disease diagnosis as well as for research, with participants drawn Day Intensive Molecular Biology Training Workshops in Nigeria

3 PLA 1 Course synopsis of theoretical and practical class sessions. from both private and public health facilities, research institutions, and the academia as shown in Table 1. Fiveday molecular biology hands-on-training courses were conducted annually between 2011 and Two courses were conducted in 2011 making a total of five hands-ontraining courses. The courses included theoretical and practical sessions. The theoretical session consisted of classroom lectures in ethics and various aspects of molecular biology as they relate to specific disease agents that are of medical importance in Nigeria (Plate 1). The practical session consisted of a hands-on active learning, in which the participants were taken step wise through the procedures of specific molecular biology techniques. The techniques covered during the workshops included, DNA extraction from Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, nucleic acid quantification with nanodrop technology, plasmid profiling, and restriction endonuclease analysis, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) of specific segments of the genome of infectious agents, gel electrophoretic analysis of amplicons obtained and gel scoring with regards to the positive identification of the infectious agent in the sample from which it was isolated and use of fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH) of nucleic acid using rrna probes for the diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori, the causative agent of peptic ulcer disease. The participants knowledge was evaluated at the beginning prior to the administration of the course and at the end after the administration of the course through preand post-test questions that were the same. The evaluation was based on a set of 25 questions which comprise both multiple choice questions as well as problem solving covering both practical and theoretical aspects of the course (Plate 2). For the practical aspect, participants were to interpret the results of the electrophoretic analysis. Data obtained were inputted into Microsoft Office Excel 2010, converted into a CSV (comma separated values) file Yisau et al. 315

4 Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education PLA 2 Format of questions that were administered for both pre and post-test evaluations. format and imported into R Statistical software for Windows. Data analysis was done using R statistical software for Windows, version Results Overall, a total of 65 pre- and post-test records of participants who participated in the molecular biology workshops and completed both assessments over a period of 4 years were analyzed. The mean pre-and post-test scores were 8.4 (95% Cl: ) and 13.0 (95% Cl: ), respectively. The distribution of the scores for the two categories of tests is shown in Fig. 1. Table 2 shows the distribution of the raw scores. There was a significant difference in the median preand post-test scores (p < 0.001). Analysis of the professional affiliations of the participants showed that 60 of the Day Intensive Molecular Biology Training Workshops in Nigeria

5 TABLE 2 Distribution of the scores for the pre- and post-test assessments Pretest frequency Class marks Post-test frequency FIG 1 participants were academics, 9 of whom were from research institutions, and 51 from universities. The remaining five participants were medical laboratory scientist from specialist hospitals. The participants represented 16 states of Nigeria. Discussion Boxplot of scores of participants in the multiple choice question for the pre- and post-test assessment. The bold line through the boxes represents the median scores of each test category. The training undertaken during the molecular biology workshops showed a significant difference in the post- and pretest assessment, with higher scores in the post-test assessment. Although the number of days did not vary, it was observed that a 5-day workshop would be sufficient to impart knowledge on the participants who demonstrated increasing interest and greater confidence each day through the practical sessions which were complemented by classroom sessions. Majority of the participants were drawn from the academia, this is due to the fact that contact persons of the organizers who were instrumental to awareness creation for the workshops were mainly from the academia. In an evaluation of the impact of molecular biology training on participants using a combination of online training materials and hand-on laboratory experience, participants gave positive feedbacks on the impact of training on knowledge and skill acquisition [6]. This corroborates our study in which a combination of theoretical lectures and hand-on laboratory sessions also elicited improved performances in an assessment tests from participants. In addition, it was observed that majority of lecturers who had given lectures on molecular biology techniques to students did not have any practical experience, so the workshop availed them the opportunity of acquiring first-hand the requisite practical molecular biology technique skill they needed for better understanding of what they taught their students. It is not known if a 2-week practical session would have done better, but we are confident that some of the participants who are lecturers would go on to pass the knowledge Total to their students with a better understanding following the skills they acquired at the workshop. One of the aims of the workshop was for the participants to also start up molecular biology training in their localities with the capacity they have acquired with support from the workshop organizers where required. This is about to commence in a center where one of the participants who attended our courses is to organize a training course in molecular biology. Our result therefore show that knowledge and skills were imparted during the course of the training and these will provide teachers with the knowledge of laboratory techniques to enable better learning by the students prior to working in a molecular biology laboratory. It is also believed that with the wide attendance of the workshop participants from five geo-political zones out of six, many universities in Nigeria will be better positioned in the area of molecular biology techniques for research and development. Conclusion Following the effectiveness of molecular biology techniques workshop recorded in this study it would be imperative for institutions to adapt this model in the training of personnel. However, this can be optimized and remodeled to suit institutional purpose. References [1] Sarkinfada, F. Auwal, I., Manu, A. Y. (2014) Applications of molecular diagnostic techniques for infectious diseases. Bayero J. Pure Appl. Sci. 7, [2] Speers, D. J. (2006) Clinical applications of molecular biology for infectious diseases. Clin. Biochem. Rev. 27, [3] Weatherall, D. (1998) The future of molecular and cell biology in medical practice in the tropical countries. Br. Med. Bull. 54, [4] Lin, T. H. Lin, H. Y., Zhang, F. (2014) Review on molecular typing methods of pathogens. Open J. Med. Microbiol. 4, doi: / ojmm [5] National Science Foundation (2003). Research experience for undergraduates (RUE) program description. undergraduates-reu... [6] Boulay, R., Parisky, A., Campbell, C. (2010) Developing teachers understanding of molecular biology: Building a foundation for students. ASCI- LITE Annu. Conf Yisau et al. 317