Newsletter: The Hidden Crisis - Groundwater Quality in the Philippines and Why It Matters

[THIS IS A PRESS RELEASE]

By: John Kenneth R. Fraga

PGHI Project staff measuring onsite groundwater quality using a multimeter in one of the forested sites in Ilocos Sur. (Photo credit: Jacquilyn L. Estrada)

Groundwater—water trapped beneath the Earth's surface—is a resource that may be out of sight, but it is certainly not out of mind for many Filipinos. This invisible resource is vital for everyday life, especially in agriculture, where it provides the lifeblood for irrigation. However, as our demand for food grows and technology allows us to tap deeper into the Earth, groundwater faces an urgent crisis of over-extraction and contamination that demands immediate attention.

Newsletter: UP Biologists Investigate Multidrug-resistant Salmonella in Chicken

[THIS IS A PRESS RELEASE]

By: Eunice Jean C. Patron

Biologists from the University of the Philippines Diliman – College of Science, Institute of Biology (UPD-CS IB) call for further and more in-depth surveillance of foodborne pathogens like the bacterium Salmonella in poultry products. Infections caused by Salmonella typically result in symptoms such as fever, abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea, and sometimes vomiting, which usually appear 6 to 72 hours after ingestion of Salmonella, and can last 2-7 days.

Newsletter: UP Biologists Develop an Aptamer-based Test for Trichomoniasis Detection

[THIS IS A PRESS RELEASE]

By: Eunice Jean C. Patron

Schematic representation of the assay. (Photo credit: Justo et al., 2024)

The World Health Organization (WHO) aims to eliminate sexually transmitted infection (STI) epidemics as significant public health threats by 2030. One of the four main non-viral and curable STIs, trichomoniasis, stays persistent, affecting 156 million out of 376 million individuals aged 15–49 in     . About 70–85% of persons with trichomoniasis show no signs of infection, highlighting the urgent need for accurate, fast, and accessible detection of Trichomonas vaginalis, the parasite that causes the infection.