By Alexander Villafania
INQUIRER.NET

MANILA, Philippines – “Keep your interests alive.”

This was the message of Balik-Scientist awardee Dr. Baldomero Olivera at the start of the 2009 National Science and Technology Week at the Manila Hotel.

Olivera, a distinguished professor of biology at the University of Utah, first gained fame for his discovery of painkilling properties in the highly toxic, ocean-going cone snails that are abundant in Philippine waters.

Olivera’s discovery led to the development of a commercial painkiller called Ziconotide (Prialt), which is administered to patients suffering from extreme pain. Unlike traditional painkiller morphine, Ziconotide is not known to cause painkiller addiction and lasts much longer in the system.

Olivera graduated from the University of the Philippines and moved to the US to take up his graduate degree in chemistry at the California Institute of Technology.

His interests in cone shells started long before he started college; in fact, he started out at a tennis court collecting shells.

“Seashells were used to compact the surface of tennis courts. They were dredged from Manila Bay and were dumped near the tennis courts. While waiting for my dad, I used to sift through the heap of shells and identified what were interesting.”

It was this interest that made him go back to cone snails for possible research. It also won him “Scientist of the Year” in 2007 by the Harvard Foundation.

At his keynote speech during the NSTW opening ceremonies, Olivera said he hopes more Filipino scientists to continue their research endeavors and to give back to the country. He said many researches can provide economic gains to both the scientific community as well as to the country.

Department of Science and Technology Secretary Estrella Alabastro said this year’s NSTW aims to spur Filipino scientists and researchers to find ways in resolving global issues. One goal is to alleviate global climate change, which is causing destruction in many industries in the Philippines, particularly agriculture.

Numerous programs will be conducted in different locations nationwide for the entire week of the NSTW. There are seminars of nanotechnology, robotics, awareness programs on waste management, business ventures based on scientific output, research presentations on health, genetics, food development, among others.

The NSTW was first created under Presidential Proclamation 2214 in 1982 and was later amended in 1993 through Republic Act 169. This declared celebrations for the NSTW on the third week of July every year.

By Anna Valmero
INQUIRER.net

Senator Edgardo Angara has filed Senate Bill 3139, which allows the total research and development (R&D) cost and prices of shares of stocks in biotechnology companies as tax deductible.

This bill seeks to propel the biotechnology industry in the country by offering the private sector incentives to invest in biotechnology R&D and building a biotechnology center.

At present, majority of the government’s investments in biotechnology R&D is awarded through a government corporation, Angara said in a statement.

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By Agence France-Presse

CHICAGO — Scientists have discovered a more efficient way of building a synthetic genome that could one day enable them to create artificial life, according to a study released Wednesday.

The method is already being used to help develop next generation biofuels and biochemicals in the labs of controversial celebrity US scientist Craig Venter.

Venter has hailed artificial life forms as a potential remedy to illness and global warming, but the prospect is highly controversial and arouses heated debate over its potential ramifications and the ethics of engineering artificial life.

Artificially engineered life is one of the Holy Grails of science, but also stirs deep fears as foreseen in Aldous Huxley’s 1932 novel “Brave New World” in which natural human reproduction is eschewed in favor of babies grown in laboratories.

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By Izah Morales

MALUNGGAY is often known as one of the ingredients of “Tinolang Manok,” which makes this Filipino specialty’s soup green and nutritious.

But did you know that malunggay contains seven times more vitamin C than orange, four times more calcium than milk, four times more vitamin A than carrots, three times more potassium than banana and more iron than pechay.

Hence the name “power gulay,” says the Department of Agriculture-Biotech Program Office (DA-BPO).

Malunggay is key in government’s current strategy to reduce malnutrition in the country.

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Izah Morales
INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines — Partnership with private sectors will answer the commercialization problems in research and development (R&D) institutions, the Department of Science and Technology (DoST) said.

Universities and institutions should partner with private sector to help commercialize technology that will benefit the people, DoST Secretary Estrella Alabastro at the opening of the National Biotechnology Week.

Research and development in biotechnology, for one, has yet to attract more investments from private sector, Alabastro said.

Senator Edgardo Angara agreed, as he pointed out the lack of incentives for investors to pour resources in biotechnology research and development.

“Biotech will not be successful if support system is not in place,” Angara added.

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