Molecular Parasitology Research Laboratory

🎉 Congratulations, Team Paras! 🎉

We proudly celebrate our Team Paras members who successfully passed the Certification Examination conducted by the Philippine Academy of Microbiology last January 17-18, 2026! 🧫🔬

Your achievement is a testament to your dedication, perseverance, and passion for excellence in the field of microbiology. This milestone not only reflects your individual hard work but also highlights the strength and quality of your training. Keep shining and continue making a difference! 🌟

The MPRL is happy and proud that you finally crossed the finish line Miles Alemania, Jan Carl Garagan, Karl Vincent Casel Yap, Rhean Mae Solomon, Mia Jayne Pascua Torres, Sophie Bailio, Jehan Guiamolod, Carnoto Herrera, Ayesha Gwen Deocampo, Vinge Lyssa Mortejo; Muamar S. Pamlian (MSBio outline) & Lorraine Joy Berja (MST-Bio outline), we celebrate your achievements..And to those who are still on the race track, keep going. The journey may be challenging but every step brings you closer to the finish line.We are cheering for you, excited to celebrate when you finally complete your manuscript journey. You've got this!

So grateful and honored for the opportunity to be part of the SCSC In-house Research Review panel. It was a wonderful experience engaging with insightful studies and sharing feedback with talented researchers..

Kindly respond and share to Senior High school students our feasibility study on the offering of Five Majors in BS-Biology: Anatomy & Physiology, Ecology, Genetics & Molecular Biology, Parasitology, and Systematics..

𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀: 𝗕𝗦 𝗕𝗶𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀

The Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Southern Mindanao is enhancing its BS Biology program with new and improved specialization fields to better prepare future scientists, researchers, and industry leaders.

We invite all Senior High School students to participate in our survey to help us assess the feasibility of these new specializations.

1. Anatomy & Physiology
2. Ecology
3. Genetics & Molecular Biology
4. Parasitology
5. Systematic Biology

Your input will play an important role in shaping the future of the BS Biology program!

https://forms.gle/HUqmJTjCHKQEuHoU9

🌿 𝐌𝐄𝐄𝐓 𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐄𝐑𝐒! | 𝐆𝐈𝐊𝐀𝐍 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐀𝐍𝐀𝐎 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐅𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓 🌿
Get ready to be inspired and informed as we bring together brilliant minds for the GIKAN Mindanao Conference, now happening ONLINE this October 24, 2025! ✨
🔗 Register here: bit.ly/PSBMBConference

🌿 𝐌𝐄𝐄𝐓 𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐄𝐑𝐒! | 𝐆𝐈𝐊𝐀𝐍 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐃𝐀𝐍𝐀𝐎 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐅𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓 🌿

Get ready to be inspired and informed as we bring together brilliant minds for the GIKAN Mindanao Conference, now happening ONLINE this October 24, 2025! ✨

🔗 Register here: bit.ly/PSBMBConference

In search for blood borne parasites🩸

Parasitology class perfecting their thick and thin blood smears, aiming for that ideal monolayer feather edge.

Celebrating success! Congratulations to Xydnne G. Campano, Champion in the Poster Competition, and Jazel D. Fernandez, 1st Runner-up in the Research Paper Competition, both under Social Category during the CSM Student In-House Review 2025.

Biodiversity in the crossfire by Husain et al., 2024—our paper led by Bona Abigail Husain and Prof. Krizler C. Tanalgo launched a conversation. Critics call it ‘statistical noise, but we argue that there's no one-size-fits-all answer to war and wildlife. Have a good read.

𝗣𝗲𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿𝘀 – 𝗦𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗼𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘁, 𝗯𝗶𝗼𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀

In 2024, the Eco/Con Lab published an analysis and discussion led by Assistant Professor Bona Abigail Hilario-Husain, aiming to shed light on biodiversity knowledge shortfalls and its link to past and ongoing sociopolitical conflict in Mindanao, using publicly available data. Our study emphasised that sociopolitical conflict has significant, yet often overlooked, impacts on biodiversity, particularly in understudied and inaccessible areas of Mindanao. (see paper here: https://bit.ly/42Y3EQn)

Our study sparked meaningful discussion, including a Matters Arising response by Pitogo and colleagues, a commentary format developed by Nature Publishing. We welcome their engagement and are open to critical dialogue. The broad interest our paper received, with contributions and reactions from authors across institutions in the Philippines, China, Taiwan, and the United States, underscores both the timeliness and relevance of this issue. Pitogo and colleagues raised thoughtful concerns regarding our dataset choices and analytical methods, suggesting that some of our conclusions may be premature. (see Arising Matter here: https://bit.ly/4k4f4ce)

In our formal response, we reaffirmed the key findings of our original work and directly addressed the Matters Arising raised by Pitogo and colleagues. We also conducted additional fine-scale analyses that strengthened our initial conclusions. Both studies, despite differing perspectives, highlighted a crucial signal amid the noise: that sociopolitical conflict can impede biodiversity research efforts. (see Our Response here: https://bit.ly/4iOt2xQ)

Importantly, we stressed the need for careful contextualisation to avoid misinterpretation by the public and policymakers. From Pitogo and colleagues’ own findings, an important question emerges: Why does species richness drop as you move farther from conflict zones? To strengthen their argument and contribute to a more informed dialogue, we encourage them to offer plausible explanations for this pattern and to consider alternative conflict datasets. Such steps would enhance the discourse and help conservation biologists and decision-makers craft more effective, evidence-based responses to the challenges at the intersection of conflict and biodiversity. 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘩, 𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘬𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘮𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦, 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭-𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘭𝘦.

Finally, we reassure Pitogo and colleagues that our study was never intended as a panacea. Rather, it represents a first step, a way to open the door to much-needed dialogue on an issue that has long flown under the radar. We fully acknowledge that our analysis does not offer a silver bullet solution to the multifaceted socioecological challenges at hand. Instead, we hope it sparks continued research and collaboration that will peel back the layers of complexity surrounding sociopolitical conflict and biodiversity loss in the Philippines.

Huge congratulations to Mr. Leven Lan A. Palacios of 1BSN-A who aced in the departmentalized Microbiology and Parasitology midterm exam. A promise kept-well-deserved reward!🎉

Sharing our recent publication. ❣️

𝗦𝗮𝗳𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 — 𝗘𝗰𝗼/𝗖𝗼𝗻 𝗟𝗮𝗯 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗠𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗣𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗘𝘁𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀

Traditional medicinal plants remain essential to the health and well-being of many Philippine communities, serving as both cultural cornerstones and key components of biodiversity conservation. However, rapid deforestation and increasing encroachment into protected areas threaten these vital resources, putting both ecological integrity and indigenous healthcare practices at risk.

A new open-access study, led by the Eco/Con Lab in collaboration with researchers from the Department of Biological Sciences, Department of Development Communications, Department of Social Science and Philosophy, and the Sentro ng Wikang Filipino, has been published in Integrative Conservation. This research provides the most comprehensive documentation to date of traditional plant-based medicine across the country’s diverse ethnolinguistic communities.

The study identified at least 796 plant species used by 34 cultural communities to treat 25 diseases, emphasising that traditional medicine remains deeply embedded in local healthcare despite modernisation and environmental challenges. The findings suggest that the continued use of medicinal plants is strongly influenced by language, cultural heritage, and environmental conditions. These insights underscore the urgent need for conservation efforts that protect both biodiversity and traditional knowledge. By integrating indigenous medicinal practices into modern healthcare systems and strengthening policies that support cultural and ecological preservation, we can help ensure these invaluable traditions endure for future generations.


For full access to the study, visit https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/inc3.70011

or through ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/390869494_Diversity_and_Ecological_Factors_Influencing_Medicinal_Plant_Use_Among_Ethnolinguistic_Groups_in_the_Philippines

Photo from: Foundation for the Philippine Environment (FPE)
https://www.fpe.ph/news/the-higaonon-of-misamis-oriental-watchers-of-our-remaining-rainforests

The strong Faculty of the Department of Biological Sciences, College of Science and Mathematics, University of Southern Mindanao, 2025..

https://www.facebook.com/share/1BW62ij8GJ/