AdZU hailed as NIGQC 2019 Champions

NIGQC 2019 | Participants pose for a photo during the closing ceremony of the quiz contest.

By: Aims Montes

LOS BAÑOS, LAGUNA- Besting 10 other schools from around the country, the team of Ateneo de Zamboanga University was named as champions of this year's National Intercollegiate Genetics Quiz Contest held at the SEARCA Umali Hall in the University of the Philippines-Los Baños last March 16, 2019.

The UPLB Genetics Society, in its 9^th successful year of hosting NIGQC, highlighted the emerging concepts of Nutrigenomics with the theme “Nourishing the Genome: Advancing the Human Health through Nutrigenomics”.

The winning team, AdZU, was represented by Ray Joshua Macrohon, Najwa Hind Molina, and Adzhar Tiplani who were accompanied by Dr. Jocelyn Partosa, their coach. In recognition, they were awarded with medals and certificates.

University of the Philippines-Manila came in 2^nd place while the team from Ateneo de Manila University landed 3^rd place.

Aside from the major awards, an individual award was also given to the top scorer for the first round of the competition termed as Synapsis. Joseph Raymund Sanchez, from the Ateneo de Manila University topped the individual examination with a total score of 57.5 points.

To officially open the program, Dr. Glenn B. Gregorio delivered his opening remarks. Dr. Gregorio is a Plant Breeder in IRRI, a professor in UPLB, and a newly-elected Academician of the National Academy of Science and Technology. He is also an alumnus of GeneSoc.

After the Synapsis round, Mr. Jacus S. Nacis, a Science Research Specialist who focuses on Nutritional Genomics, Metabolism, and Obesity at the Food and Nutrition Research Insititute, conducted a lecture seminar on the basic concepts of Nutrigenomics. He highlighted the relationship of genes to the cases of obesity and the benefits of this field to the improvement of one's health.

The second part of the competition, the Dogma Round, was composed of three parts namely Initiation (easy), Elongation (average), and Termination (difficult). Meanwhile, the third round of the tilt followed which is the Genetic Drift or the Bottleneck round wherein the contestants were given multipliers that they could use to increase or decrease their points depending on their answers.

The judges of the competition were Dr. Merlyn S. Mendioro, the Director of the Institute nof Biological Sciences, Dr. Ma. Genaleen Q. Diaz, a professor in the Genetics and Molecular Biology Division of the IBS, and Dr. Roberta N. Garcia, a professor in the Institute of Plant Breeding Crop Science Cluster.

The quiz masters were Prof. Marjorie delos Angeles, an Assistant Professor in the Plant Biology Division and Prof. Emmanuel T. Galang, an Assistant Professor in the Genetics and Molecular Biology Division.

The questions for this year’s NIGQC covered the fields of Cytogenetics, Molecular Genetics, Human Genetics, Quantitative Genetics, Microbial Genetics, Developmental Genetics, and Qualitative Genetics.

Eleven schools participated in the event. These include the following: Ateneo de Manila University, Ateneo de Zamboanga University, Bulacan State University, Mariano Marcos State University, Miriam College, Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, Pampanga State University, Polytechnic University of the Philippines - Sta Mesa, Southern Luzon State University, University of the Philippines Manila, and Virgen Milagrosa State University Foundation.

The participants and guests were entertained through intermission numbers performed by the UPLB Filipiniana Dance Troupe and Agnes Gutierrez, a BS Biology student.

Before NIGQC 2019 closed, Michelia Merill Linne Malabrigo (Hybrizyme), the President of The UPLB Genetics Society, delivered her closing remarks and thanked everyone for the success of the event.

When asked about her first NIGQC 2019 experience, Najwa Hind Molina, a member of the winning team, said, “ …We can say that it’s a very challenging experience for us. Obviously, it’s our first time to join…It’s also very rewarding for us also. Actually, we did not expect to win at all. It’s very funny because when the announcement came, we were all stunned. We really did not expect to win and I think it’s a good plot twist for Ateneo de Zamboanga (translated)”.

The UPLB Genetics Society would like to thank the following sponsors for their support on the 9^th NIGQC. The NIGQC 2019 co-presentors are: Bayer and DekaLB; its donors: Diamed Enterprise, Pro-seed Development Association, Inc., ArmanCanDoIt! Ltd., Jared Genio and Family, and Jindra Samson; its partner institutions: Institute of Biological Sciences and Genetics and Molecular Biology Division; powered by: Bonitos Bar and Restaurant, Eat-Sumo, and the Original Buko Pie Bakeshop.