MMSU bags awards in int’l biology conference

By Daniel P. Tapaoan, Jr. 

 

Four research studies of the Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) won awards in the poster presentation competition of the 48th international virtual conference of the Philippine Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (PSBMB) last December 1-4. 

 

MMSU winners were under the Health and Wellness (HW) and Environmental and Industrial Biotechnology (EIB) categories. They bested other 13 and five entries, respectively.

 

In the HW category, the research on ‘Liver Histopathology of Male ICR Mice Under Chronic-Binge Feeding Using Alcohol Beverages’ garnered second place. This was conducted by the group of Dr. Doreen D. Domingo, Ms. Rejean L. Anastacio, Ms. Althea Jomari G. Lagazo, Ms. Marie Grace M. Seggay, Dr. Gail Domecq C. Tanawit, Prof. Jessica G. Asuncion, Ms. Donna Mae B. Fronda and Mr. Jeve Rafael A. Macabiog.

 

In the same category, the research titled ‘Constituents from Psychotria Luzoniensis (Katagpong-gubat) Inhibit Production of IFN-Y and IL-2 in Concanavalin a Stimulated Murine Splenocytes’ finished third place. Its researchers are Prof. Ma. Danica Ines-Ramil, Prof. Rhian Jaymar D. Ramil, Dr. Shirley C. Agrupis, Taisuke Konno, Toshihiro Murata, Kyoko Kobayashi, and Kenroh Sasaki. 

 

Meanwhile, two research projects of the group of Prof. James Paul T. Madigal, Ms. Karyl Mae D. Ramos, Ms. Thiara Celine E. Suarez, and Dr. Agrupis won second and third places in the poster presentation under the EIB category.

 

These projects are the ‘Screening and Fermentation Performance of Nipa Yeast Strain Potentials as Starter Culture for Bioethanol Production’ (second place); and ‘Isolation, Characterization, and Identification of Fungi from Plant Biomass for Bioprocessing Technology’ (third place) with Frenzee Kroeizha L. Pammit.

 

Researchers of these studies were given Php 3,000 (2nd) and Php 2,000 (3rd) cash prizes and certificates. 

 

A total of 47 entries competed in four contest areas: agriculture and fisheries, bioinformatics and computational biology, EIB, and HW.

 

Meanwhile, the PSBMB Northern Luzon Chapter (NLC) won in the TikTok Dance Challenge during the annual convention. 

 

The 48th PSBMB scientific convention was hosted by the PSBMB-NLC and MMSU. With the theme “Facing North: Navigating the New Normal through Research Translation and Harmonization,” this year’s virtual international conference aims to tackle education, health, and data science in the new normal.

 

PSBMB-NLC and MMSU President Agrupis hopes this year’s convention has inspired its members to continue in the quest toward greater resilience for humankind. “Your incisive wisdom and outputs made the convention a groundbreaking platform for new innovations in biotechnology and molecular biology,” she remarked. (StratCom)
 

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