"They come from different walks of life. For some of them, it will be their first time to travel by plane. The six lucky winners of the promotional ‘Lakbay Biotek Educational Visit’ undertook a 3-4 day ‘all-expense-paid’ to various institutions doing biotechnology research and development activities and talked with the scientists themselves.

In October, Ms. Remedios Yolola, a municipal agriculture staff of Muntinlupa City met scientists and visited facilities of the UP Los Banos-based Institute of Plant Breeding and the National Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (NIMBB), the Rice World of the International Rice Research Institute, the UP Diliman-based NIMBB and Benguet State University in La Trinidad, Benguet. Ms. Yolola also discussed extension activities with specialists from the International Service for the Acquisition of Agribiotech Applications and the SEARCA-Biotechnology Information Center.

In November, the couple Mr. Aries and Ms. Lesley Ann Manuel, employees of private companies, joined the Visayas leg of the visit in Iloilo. They were provided briefings about the fisheries and aquaculture biotechnology R&D program of the UP Visayas and the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center (SEAFDEC) and observed the ongoing researches conducted in the experimental stations and laboratories.

Also in November, Ms. Elisa Selvido, a private school teacher from Quezon City, learned about the different research and extension programs as well as practical applications of biotechnology. She met researchers and visited the facilities of the University of the Philippines Mindanao, the Bureau of Plant Industry-Davao National Crops Research and Development Center, the research division of the Department of Agriculture’s Regional Field Unit XI, and the Philippine Coconut Authority – Davao Research Center.

Ms. Analyn Sambayan, an undergraduate student of Rizal Technological University and Ms. Lorna Santos, a research manager of the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Soils and Water Management flew to Bangkok in December. Besides the briefings, they visited the laboratories of the Bioresources Research Unit, Food Biotechnology Laboratory and Protein-Ligand Engineering and Molecular Biology Laboratory of the National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (BIOTEC).

The educational study visit aimed to enhance the public’s awareness on innovative biotechnology applications in agriculture, fisheries, medicine and environmental protection.

The six winners won the prizes at stake during the celebration of the Philippine National Biotechnology Week held 1-7 July 2005. The ‘Lakbay Biotek Promo’ was sponsored by the SEARCA Biotechnology Information Center and the Department of Agriculture. (RBLapitan)

View article at SEARCA Diary, December 2005 issue