β-Lactamases in the biochemistry and molecular biology laboratory.

β-lactamases are hydrolytic enzymes that inactivate the β-lactam ring of antibiotics such as penicillins and cephalosporins. The major diversity of studies carried out until now have mainly focused on the characterization of β-lactamases recovered among clinical isolates of Gram-positive staphylococci and Gram-negative enterobacteria, amongst others. However, only some studies refer to the detection and development of β-lactamases carriers in healthy humans, sick animals, or even in strains isolated from environmental stocks such as food, water, or soils.

Human salivary α-amylase (EC.3.2.1.1) activity and periodic acid and schiff reactive (PAS) staining: A useful tool to study polysaccharides at an undergraduate level.

Health science education is presently in discussion throughout Europe due to the Bologna Declaration. Teaching basic sciences such as biochemistry in a health sciences context, namely in allied heath education, can be a challenging task since the students of preclinical health sciences are not often convinced that basic sciences are clinically valuable (J. R.