The Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PCIEERD) Biotechnology-Genomics Technical Panel conducted the review of completed projects and proposals under the Biotechnology-Genomics sector at the National Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (NIMBB), University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman.
The completed projects evaluated were the “Establishment of the Philippine Genome Center (PGC) DNA Sequencing Core Facility” led by Dr. Cynthia P. Saloma, NIMBB Director and the “Establishment of Philippine Genome Center’s Core Facility for Bioinformatics” led by Dr. Arturo O. Lluisma. Both facilities are part of the PGC’s capability building for research and development in genomics.
Review of projects’ accomplishments showed that targets were achieved, yet strategies must be set in place to sustain the services of PGC facilities.
For the DNA Sequencing Core facility, Dr. Saloma cited that if it is to continue its services, DOST and PCIEERD should continuously provide research grants to genomics research projects.
Also evaluated by the technical panel were the proposals “Application of Bioinformatics in Microbial Biotechnology” by the UP Los Baños-National Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (UPLB-BIOTECH) research team and “Heterogeneous Expression of Raw Starch-Digesting Enzyme from S. bubodii 2066 in S. cerevisiae” by Dr. Anabelle Novero of UP Mindanao.
The technical panel recommended: a) that the Biotech program proposal be repackaged to reflect the program’s overall intent; b) consider revising the title to capture the overall vision of the program that will provide a more coherent and defined expected outcome aligned with the Philippine Genomics Roadmap; c) to compress/cluster similar project components to be implemented by phases; and (d) to provide details on how the program can utilize the super computer at the core facility for bioinformatics.
Dr. Marita V.T. Reyes of UP Manila presided over the meeting attended by other agencies such as the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD), DOST; PGC; NIMBB; and Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, a private entity, among others.
Ms. Faustina C. Baradas, Supervising Science Research Specialist of the Forestry and Environment Research Division, represented PCAARRD during the review.