UST Senior High School students from the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics strand won awards in the 1st Senior High School Capstone Experience Conference held at the University of the Philippines, Los Baños, Laguna last April 28, 2018.
Discovering the inhibiting effects of leaf extracts of the common local plants on unwanted vegetation, the research paper of Arjay Julio, Wynsel Carven R. Tandoc, Hans Daniel D. Tipace, Yannah Franzine Vendivill, and Zyrene Yanesa from 12-STEM-27 won the award for Best Paper in Life Sciences. The paper was entitled “Allelopathic effect of Lantana Camara and Chromolaena odorata leaf extracts on plant germination.”
The researchers compared the allelopathic effect of extracts of lantana camara leaves, also known as lantana or big-sage and chromolaena odorata leaves, commonly known as Siam weed, common floss flower or Hagonoy in Tagalog, on the germination and growth of plants using Vigna radiata, commonly known as mung beans, as the test plant.
The study showed that both leaf extracts inhibited the growth and germination of the mung bean seedlings. The Hagonoy leaf extracts, having a higher amount of allelochemical concentration, suppressed the growth of the seedlings more than the Lantana plant did. The researchers recommended that the potential application of the plants as natural herbicides be studied.
Furthermore, the research paper of Leo Bert A. Orpilla, Jamie Marie M. Kalaw, Hannah S. Golpeo, Mary Joy A. Rodriguez, and Jacob M. Casugbo from 12 STEM 24 won the Best Paper in Agricultural Sciences award. THe paper was entitled “Optimization of Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification (LAMP) assay in identifcation of Fasciola hepatica in goat samples.”
The researchers optimized LAMP, a cost-effective technique, to detect the presence of a parasite named Fasciola hepatica, commonly known as liver fluke, from the blood and fecal samples of a goat. The LAMP technique with a high specificity and good sensitivity was developed by the researchers to detect the presence of the liver fluke in the blood and fecal samples of the goat. The optimized LAMP assay would be of help to farmers and those in the field of agriculture since it does not require advanced equipment and does not cost much.
#ThomasianExcellence #ThomasianResearches #ThomasianStudents