Tag: February 29, 2016

A GROUNDBREAKING work on the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) barcoding of local medicinal plants by a Thomasian professor is on its final stage and is set to be launched in the second quarter of the year.

Grecebio Alejandro, director of the Office of Graduate Research and a pioneer of plant molecular phylogenetics in the country, spearheaded the formation of a database that sought to identify local medicinal plants on a molecular level through DNA barcoding.

“DNA Barcoding for Authentication of Philippine Medical Plants” is a four-year project that began in 2012. It aims to utilize DNA barcoding among plants to create an online database and a medicinal guidebook for endemic flora.

ANOTHER mosquito-borne virus is causing global panic.

The Zika virus, which spread in Brazil last August, is allegedly the reason some healthy babies were born with normal faces but no forehead—a condition called microcephaly.

Zika has since spread to 24 other countries, endangering especially mothers and their unborn children. This prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) to declare the virus a global health emergency last Feb. 1.

The Zika virus belongs to the family Flaviviradae and is commonly transmitted through the bite of the Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus, mosquitoes found in tropical and sub-tropical countries like Brazil and the Philippines.

A NEW study on food science offers an explanation of exactly why lechon tastes good.

After the five basic tastes sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami (malinamnam), scientists have discovered a part of the tongue that can detect the taste of oily food.

The new taste, called “oleogustus,” from the Latin root words “oleo” and “gustus” meaning “oil” and “taste,” respectively, was proposed by Richard Mattes, director of Purdue University’s Investigative Behavior Research Center, and his team last 2015, in their study “Oleogustus: The Unique Taste of Fat.”

CEBU CITY—THE REDEFINITION and destruction of the family is also the Church’s destruction, Papal Legate Cardinal Charles Maung Bo said during the concluding Mass of the 51st International Eucharistic Congress (IEC) last Jan. 31.

In his homily, Cardinal Bo said that while terrorism and poverty are major concerns, the faithful are called to protect the institution of family which is the backbone of the Catholic Church.

“The greatest danger to humanity today is the destruction of the family. Understanding of the family is contested and redefinition of parents have gained strong appeal in rich countries,” Cardinal Bo said at the IEC Statio Orbis Mass in Cebu City’s South Road Properties reclamation area.

CEBU CITY—THE 51ST International Eucharistic Congress (IEC) serves as an “eye opener” to realities concerning faith, religious persecution and the relevance of traditional liturgy and worship.

In a press conference last Jan. 25, the panel of speakers, led by Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma and Archbishop Piero Marini, president of the Vatican committee on eucharistic congresses, spoke about the Eucharist as a source of strength and unity among the faithful especially during times of harsh realities like armed conflicts, natural disasters and poverty.

Palma said the congress seeks to encourage people to not only trust in God but also act like the “Eucharistic people” expected of them.

CEBU CITY—UNDERSTANDING cultural differences is key to encouraging the youth and other sectors to participate more actively in matters of the Eucharist.

Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle last Jan. 28 stressed the importance of having “cultural intelligence” in reaching out to the youth and various communities.

“The culture of the youth is something that I think we elders should understand. They should be consulted, they should be able to talk to us without fear about their culture,” Tagle said during the fifth press conference of the 51st International Eucharistic Congress (IEC).

CEBU CITY—THE FORMER master of the Order of Preachers has downplayed criticisms that he is contradicting the Church’s stance on same-sex marriage.

“[M]y position on the same-sex marriage is the Church’s. Like Pope Francis, we must be open to welcome anybody. But I never said I believe in gay marriage,” Fr. Timothy Radcliffe, O.P., consultant to Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, told the media at the sidelines of the 51st International Eucharistic Congress.

Radcliffe called on the Catholic community to be of help and not a hindrance to homosexuals.

“Everybody is on their journey. As Pope Francis said, ‘who am I to judge?’ I think all we do is help the people as they journey towards God,” Radcliffe said.

CEBU CITY—POPE Francis has announced that the 52nd International Eucharistic Congress (IEC) will be held in Budapest, Hungary in 2020, after Cebu’s successful hosting that saw record-breaking attendance from the faithful.

The Holy Father made the announcement in a video message after the Concluding Mass of the 51st IEC, the “Statio Orbis” or the “Mass of the World,” at Cebu South Road Properties. An estimated one million people attended the Mass led by the papal legate, Charles Cardinal Maung Bo of Myanmar.

The Archdiocese of Esztergom-Budapest houses 1,254,000 Catholics or 60.1 percent of Budapest’s population. It was in the 10th century when the Archdiocese of Esztergom was established. The see was renamed the Archdiocese of Esztergom-Budapest in 2013.

CEBU CITY—FILIPINO Catholics, branded historically as “pueblo amante de Maria,” the “beloved nation of Mary,” are called to strengthen their devotion to the Blessed Mother to have a deeper relationship with God.

In the final catechesis of the 51st International Eucharistic Congress (IEC) titled “The Eucharist and Mary,” New York Archbishop Timothy Cardinal Dolan described Mary as a bridge of faithfulness and an “intimate part of the Eucharist.”

“You want to be closer to Jesus at the Cross? Well then, be close to Mary because She is right there next to Him,” Dolan said during the penultimate day of the IEC.

The American prelate said Mary is present in all forms of the Eucharist—the Eucharist as sacrifice, meal and presence.

PRINTMAKING may have taken a beating from both painting and digital art, but it remains a valid vehicle for the visual arts as shown in “Territories,” an exhibit of the Association of Pinoy printmakers at the Bulwagang Fernando Amorsolo and Pasilyo Victorio Edades of the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

The exhibit showed various printing techniques such as woodblock, serigraph and intaglio.

Janos de la Cruz, UST Fine Arts in Advertising graduate and award-winning young illustrator and print artist, said the exhibit lets the artist “explore the boundaries” of printmaking while extending the print art on pillows, “bakya” and even as graffiti on walls.