2 UP students top BPI-DOST Best Project award

Two students of the University of the Philippines topped this year's Bank of the Philippine Islands-Department of Science and Technology Best Project of the Year Awards. Carla Gisela Ysabel Concepcion, a senior BS Molecular Biology and Biotechnology student, bagged the first prize with her research "Cloning of Alcyonium Green Fluorescent Protein as a Potential Tracker of Cancer Metastasis." Concepcion won a cash incentive of P50,000 and a P200,000 research grant from DOST and a trophy from BPI. Christina Lora Leyson, also a BS Molecular Biology and Biotechnology student from UP Diliman, placed second for her research "Heterologuos Expression of Abaca Bunchy Top Virus Coat Protein Gene and Production of Antibodies for ABTV Early Detection." Leyson received a P30,000 cash prize from DOST and a trophy from BPI. A senior BS Chemical Engineering student from the University of Santo Tomas, Juan Paulo M. Antonio, was in third place for "Extraction, Transesterification, and Characterization of Bitaog (Calophyllum Inophyllum) Seed Oil as Source of Biofuel." He received a P10,000 cash prize from DOST and a trophy from BPI. The awarding ceremony was held January 18 at the Vigan Terrace Room of the BPI main office in Makati City. The three students bested 27 others from 10 partner-universities throughout the country. The BPI-DOST joint undertaking aims to recognize and provide incentives to graduating students in select colleges and universities who excel in specialized fields of science, namely: mathematics, physics, chemistry, engineering, computer science and biology. Last year, Alexander Edward Dy, a senior BS Biology student of the University of the Philippines, won the "Best Project of the Year Award" for developing an inexpensive test kit that helps in the early detection of amoebiasis through the patient's saliva. Undersecretary Fortunato dela Peña of DOST's Science and Technology Services, said the researches submitted this year were timely and relevant to the national science agenda of the government. “Their works are impressive and these researches would be a big contribution to the body of knowledge in our country," he said. Awarding ceremonies for the BPI-DOST Science Awards will also take place in BPI Foundation's 10 partner-universities nationwide on the following dates: Xavier University (February 6), Ateneo de Davao University (February 8), University of Santo Tomas (February 13), Saint Louis University (February 15), UP-Diliman (February 20), De La Salle University (February 21), University of San Carlos (February 26), Silliman University (February 28), Ateneo de Manila University (March 5), and UP Los Baños (March 7). - GMANews.TV