UP studes top 2008 BPI-DOST science tilt

Carla Gisela Ysabel Concepcion, a graduating Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (MBB) student from UP Diliman, copped the top prize at this year’s Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI)-Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Science Awards.

From 29 students all over the country, 12 semi-finalists were chosen, and then six moved on to the finals.

Concepcion chose to work on a project titled “Cloning of Alcyonium Green Flourescent Protein as a Potential Tracker of Cancer Metastasis” because of the enormous potential of Philippine marine organisms for providing valuable proteins that could benefit the field of cancer biology.

Monitoring the progression of cancer will indicate how effective prescribed treatments are and will also help in the discovery and study of new cancer medicine.

First runner-up was fellow MBB major Christina Lora Leyson with her thesis, “Molecular Cloning and Heterologous Expression of the Abaca Bunchy Top Virus (ABTV) Coat Protein Gene and Production of Antibodies for the Early Detection of ABTV.”

While the country is one of the world’s top producers of abaca, its production is constantly threatened by various plant diseases such as ABTV. Leyson’s work aims to help prevent the spread of the plant virus through the creation of antibodies that can detect the disease at its early stage.

The BPI-DOST Science Awards annually recognizes the research efforts of three students from 10 universities nationwide.

The other awardee from UP Diliman is Computer Science major Dan Christian Llaneta whose thesis focused on network security.

“Biik: A Zoomable, Context-aware Visualization System for Snort IDS Alert Logs” may sound too technical, said Llaneta, but simply put, it helps a computer user know whether his unit has been hacked or not.

His project creates a user-friendly visual representation of network activity that will indicate, for example, which unit is being invaded, who is attempting to hack it, and how many times the attack has been attempted.

UP Los Baños also won three awards for the projects of Nonoy Bandillo, BS Agriculture; Flor Adrian Simborio, BS Biology; and Mahalia Adelina Corazon Serrano, BS Agricultural Chemistry.

The goal of Bandillo’s study, “Molecular Profiling of Breeding Lines Derived from the Cross Oryza sativa L. x O. rufi-pogon Griff,” was to produce a rice breed that is resistant to disease and has high production qualities.

Simborio, on the other hand, delved into the mechanisms of salt tolerance in rice. He explained that before developing more salt-tolerant rice varieties, it is important to know which genes are responsible for tolerance to this stress. Hence, his study on the “Specific Activity and Gene Expression Analyses of Ascorbate Peroxidase in Contrasting Rice Genotypes Affected by Salt-Stress.”

Finally, in her study “Physicochemical and Nutritional Properties of Organically Grown Indigenous Philippine Rice Cultivars,” Serrano concluded that based on its nutritional properties, organic rice is most beneficial to consumers. It is one variety that is free from chemicals, rich in nutrients, and may help prevent cancer.

According to Serrano, her study advocates organic rice farming, helps promote sustainable agriculture and environmental conservation, and assures Filipinos of nutritious rice.

Each student chosen for the BPI-DOST Science Awards received a trophy, P25,000, and an invitation to work at BPI as a junior officer.

Concepcion was awarded an additional P50,000 for winning “Best Project of the Year” and a P200,000 research grant from the DOST. Leyson, who was first-runner up, received an additional P30,000.

Three students each from Ateneo de Davao University, Ateneo de Manila University, De La Salle University, Saint Louis University, University of San Carlos, University of Santo Tomas, and Xavier University were also recognized. Silliman University had two awardees this year.