Popularizing science
Never did I dream that I would be addressing more than a hundred international biotechnologists, in the capital city of what could be the world’s richest superpower today given the United States’ recent financial woes.
The Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), founded by the late Nobel laureate Abdus Salam, held recently the Symposium on Industrial Biotechnology in the Vision Hotel in Beijing, China. Organized by the Regional Office for East and Southeast Asia (ROESEAP), the symposium had leading scientists discussing how components of living cells could be used in industries like chemical, energy, textiles, feeds, medicine.
I am a mathematician and a psychologist. How did I get to be part of the event? Corazon de Ungria, head of the DNA Analysis Laboratory at the University of the Philippines (UP) in Diliman, nominated me for my math work in the Ateneo de Manila University, books, defunct television show, and public lectures.
But it was primarily my “Eureka” column that earned me the right to be there.
Last year, TWAS-ROESEAP awarded Mahaletchumy Arujanan (executive director of the Malaysian Biotechnology Information Centre) and me the Regional Prize for Public Understanding of Science.
We were the first honorees in this part of the world, though formal ceremonies were held only this year, at the global science gathering.
When vice president Li Jiayang of the Chinese Academy of Sciences shook my hand, I felt like I was dreaming. My science articles had won awards from Philippine journalism groups, but I never thought that bona fide scientists outside the country read, much less followed, them.
Indeed, some scientists said, “Why are there no photos for your columns online? No pictures for the education stories?” I was heartened that they cared enough to notice.
Science communication
How could scientists communicate science to the people? I answered from experience. How, upon the urging of the late columnist Doreen Fernandez, I contributed a math article in March 1991 to the Sunday Inquirer, how then editor Lorna Kalaw-Tirol asked me to do a column in June, how the first book appeared in December, how I transferred to the Science and Health section in 1995, under Cesar Mangawang, then moved to the Learning section, under Chelo Banal-Formoso, in 2009.
I have received more than 500 letters from readers. It was not true Filipinos were not interested in science, I said, it was just that there were few intelligible pieces on theories and applications.
Scientists, as much as journalists, are responsible for bringing their ideas to the public. Since abstract ideas are often complex, scientists should explain in print, TV, radio, or the Net the significance of what they are doing. It may be time-consuming and often frustrating, but the task needs to be done.
Saving lives
Take biotech, for instance. Genetic manipulation smacks of hubris. If scientists do not care to explain its advantages, vis-à-vis the dangers, in ways people will understand, ignorance and fear will dominate.
In Malaysia, Arujanan’s team consulted stakeholders—students, industry players, politicians, religious scholars. The team partnered with designers to do biotech-based fashion and organized carnivals for the public.
“Knowledge in biotech can no longer be considered a luxury,” Arujanan said.
I was impressed with the work done by keynote speaker George Guo-Qiang Chen of Tsinghua University, who had trained around the world. For decades, Chen, a very important person in global biotech, worked on microbial biopolyesters polyhydroxy alkanoates (PHA), publishing hundreds of scholarly articles and amassing dozens of patents.
PHA, which is produced by bacteria, seems to be a miracle material. It was used in bioplastics in the 2008 Olympic Games and had been tried in biofuels and biodegradables. In drug targeting and tissue engineering, PHA can repair damage and restore mobility and health. It is a potential life saver.
“Further PHA development,” said Chen, “appears to be limited only by the imagination.”
Philippines-China ties
Three Filipinos from the National Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology at UP Diliman presented their research. Director Cynthia Hedreyda discussed our Biofuels Law that aimed to reduce dependence on imported oil, mitigate toxic greenhouse gas, and increase income-generating opportunities.
But implementation was not easy due to lack of raw materials and processing facilities.
Hedreyda also mentored Zahara Guiamal and Karen Rosal. Guiamal, recognized in the symposium as a Young Scientist for her work, used genetic markers to distinguish different wine strains. Rosal tested a novel approach to screen for certain bacteria in selected soil samples.
The Chinese scientists treated their guests with the utmost courtesy and generosity. I conversed with them in basic Mandarin, and they happily replied in basic English. We talked of Chinese-Filipino ties, and collaboration among our scientists.
They were eager to know about our country and people, our sciences and arts, our perspectives and problems.
Accompanying all of us to the Great Wall, they beamed as they proclaimed it “Wonder of the World!” The Wall is truly a breathtaking monument to human ingenuity and sacrifice.
But, as I saw firsthand their patient efficiency and love of country, I knew that the real wonder of China was not so much her Wall, as her people.
For details of the TWAS-ROESEAP Symposium, go to www.twasib.org.
E-mail the author at [email protected].
