“The potential of biotechnology to increase agricultural productivity is one of the reasons why at the Department of Science and Technology, we believe it is a cause worth pursuing,” said DOST Secretary Mario G. Montejo.  Moreover, the DOST supports a science-based method of evaluating both the benefits and risks of GM crops, he clarified.

Sec. Montejo’s take on biotechnology came at the heels of biotechnology milestone in global agricultural history when developing countries in 2012 achieved a feat unheard of in past decades. For the first time, farmers from the developing world, including the Philippines, produced more biotechnology crops, or biotech crops, than farmers from highly developed and more technologically advanced nations.

Dr. Randy A. Hautea, global coordinator and Southeast Asia Center director of the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications (ISAAA), announced this astounding news during the international conference on the “Adoption of Biotech Crops in the Developing World” held recently at the Hyatt Hotel Manila, co-organized by the National Academy of Science and Technology, an advisory body of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-NAST).

The Central Visayas Consortium for Health Research and Development Advisory Council held a special meeting on March 1, 2013 at the DOST 7 Conference Room to choose the winning entry from among those submitted for the CVCHRD Logo Design Contest.

In selecting the winning logo entry, the following criteria were used: originality (30%), relevance to the CVCHRD Vision, Mission, and Goals (30%), artistry (20%), and over-all impact (20%).

From among the nine entries, the Council members chose Entry No. 8 as the winning logo entry with a rating of 81.71%. It was subsequently revealed that the entry was submitted by Mr. Brian Canape, a staff member of Cebu Doctors’ University Student Affairs, Publications, and Public Relations Office.

Cebuanos can now get easy access to a compendium of S&T information gathered from all over the world.

The Science and Technology Information Institute of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-STII) recently developed the Philippines’s first digital science library.

The Science and Technology Academic and Research-Based Openly Operated  Kiosk Station known as “STARBOOKS” is a stand alone, onsite research kiosk that provides free access on S&T information for academic and livelihood use. It contains hundreds of thousands of digitized science and technology resources in various formats (text and audio/video) placed in specially design “pods” set in a user-friendly interface.

The growing popularity of herbal beverages and their health benefits has propelled the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Negros Oriental Provincial Science and Technology Center to conduct a tea making seminar-workshop for existing and potential entrepreneurs in Negros Oriental. Around 15 participants attended the training held recently at the local DOST office .

The workshop included a comprehensive lecture on tea-making and hands-on exercises, and covered an extensive discussion on the proper methods and techniques most especially in drying, mixing and storing herbs. Also pointed out in the seminar are the correct way of making teabags, proper packaging and labeling; and fair costing of tea products.

“Herbal tea has been accepted as a catch-all term for any non-caffeinated beverage made from the infusion or decoction of herbs, spices, or other plant material in water since “tea” in the real sense of word is made of cured leaves of the tea plant Camellia sinensis,” explained Vina R. Antopina, the resident food and food safety expert from Bohol who facilitated the workshop. The participants had the chance to explore their creativity in mixing different types of dried plant materials and creating different  kinds of natural  and such as dried turmeric, malunggay, guava leaves, basil, lagundi leaves, mango peelings, and orange peelings, among others.