Student Activities
On Friday, June 14, 2024 at 13.00-14.30 WIB, Gentalk 4 was held. The event was held at the Genetics and Breeding Laboratory, Faculty of Biology UGM. The activity targeted towards Formasigen students and public. This activity was attended by Mrs. Ganies Riza Aristya, S.Si., M.Sc., Ph.D. as the Formasigen supervisor lecturer and Dr. Niken Satuti Nur Handayani, M.Sc. as lecturers from Genetics and Breeding Laboratory. Gentalk activities are a forum for active discussion and sharing between alumni or seniors related to the topic of the undergraduate thesis being worked on with Formasigen students and the public. The speaker in Gentalks 4 are Luisa Ramyahastri Paramatatya and Tazkia Mahsya Syavira, students of the Faculty of Biology UGM class of 2020 and under the guidance of Dr. Niken Satuti Nur Handayani, M.Sc. as their undergraduate thesis supervisor.
The event commenced with an introduction by the MC, Thoriq Abdul Halim, who serves as the Head of the Scientific Division of the GenomCity 2024 Cabinet. This was followed by remarks from Mrs. Ganies Riza Aristya, S.Si., M.Sc., Ph.D., and Dr. Niken Satuti Nur Handayani, M.Sc. In their remarks, Mrs. Ganies and Mrs. Niken expressed their hope that Gentalk can become a forum for sharing research results with active participation from various parties, beyond just Formasigen. The activity continued with a presentation by the first speaker, Luisa Ramyahastri Paramatatya, on her undergraduate thesis research topic entitled “Detection of rs9939609 and rs1421085 Variants of the Fat Mass and Obesity (FTO) Gene in Patients with Obesity.” Luisa explained that the FTO gene is associated with obesity and affects the process of energy metabolism. This study aims to determine the presence or absence of rs9939609 and rs1421085 variants of the FTO gene in obese patients at Panti Rapih Yogyakarta and calculate the prevalence of these two variants. It is hoped that this research will provide an understanding of the potential of these variants in predicting the risk of obesity and the genotypic relationships that arise in obese patients at Panti Rapih Yogyakarta. The activity continued with a presentation by the second speaker, Tazkia Mahsya Syavira, on her undergraduate thesis research topic entitled “Detection of Filaggrin Gene (FLG) Polymorphism Variants Associated with Atopic Dermatitis.” Tazkia explained that the FLG gene affects the formation of the skin’s natural moisturizing factor. This study aims to detect the presence of the FLG gene polymorphism variant 3321delA and the percentage of individuals with this variant among patients with atopic dermatitis at Panti Rapih Hospital Yogyakarta. The study is expected to provide information on FLG gene SNP variants in patients with atopic dermatitis at Panti Rapih Yogyakarta Hospital and its potential use as a biomarker for detecting atopic dermatitis. The activity concluded with a question and answer session with the audience, followed by a documentation session. [Author: Formasigen]
On Friday, June 14, 2024, from 15:00 to 16:00 WIB, a Mid-Year Evaluation of the GenomCity Formation Cabinet 2024 was held. The activity was conducted in a hybrid manner, both at the Genetics and Breeding Laboratory, Faculty of Biology UGM, and online using the Zoom Meeting platform. This activity was attended by Mrs. Ganies Riza Aristya, S.Si., M.Sc., Ph.D., the Formasigen supervisor, as well as all administrators and members of the Formasigen 2024 GenomCity Cabinet. The aim was to monitor the work programs implemented by the GenomCity Cabinet Formasigen management, identify obstacles and challenges faced during the half-year period, provide constructive input and recommendations for improving work programs, and enhance the quality of planned work programs.
The event commenced with an introduction by the MC, M. Sena Budiman, who serves as the Vice Chair of the GenomCity 2024 Cabinet. This was followed by remarks from Mrs. Ganies Riza Aristya, S.Si., M.Sc., Ph.D., who expressed hope that this activity would lead to even better future plans. The activity included presentations by the head of each division to convey the work programs carried out over the past six months, along with evaluations and suggestions for improvement. The presentations began with the Chairman, followed by the Secretary and Treasurer, and continued with the heads of the PSDM division, Scientific division, Household division, Public Relations and Networking division, and concluded with a presentation from the head of the Media and Information division. The activity concluded with a documentation session and a closing. [Author: Formasigen]
Written by: KSAT 2024
The KSAT Pra-Acclimatization II 2024: Enhancing the Scientific Understanding of KSAT Sapling Members
Author: KSAT 2024*
The Nusantara Orchid Biodiversity Show (NOBiS), which is a series of orchid photography competitions and annual webinar, is being held again by the Biology Orchid Study Club (BiOSC), Faculty of Biology, UGM. This webinar is held online with the aim of educating and providing training to the younger generation through seminars and activities workshop. This year’s orchid photography competition has the theme “Orchid Odyssey: Revealing the Extraordinary Journey of Orchids Through The Past, Present, and Future”. A total of 56 participants took part in the orchid photography competition by submitting their work on 7 – 17 May 2024. The results of the participants’ photography work are then displayed in the form of a virtual exhibition via ArtSteps which can be accessed by all participants. The winners of the orchid photography competition at the NOBiS event were Dary Saka Fitrady as First Place, Imaduddin Akhyar Kusumaperdana as Second Place, Yosvaldo Gerry Setiono Putra as Third Place, and Muhammad Nadhif Al Sulthony as Favorite Champion, which was announced at the peak event of the 2024 NOBiS.
The orchid photography competition has a positive impact on sustainable development. Webinar and photography competitions can contribute to the appreciation of biodiversity, which is in line with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 12: Responsible consumption and production, 15: Life on Land, and 17: Partnership to achieve goals. Orchid photography is an effort that can be used as a tool to visualize biodiversity and help remind us of the beauty of nature and the importance of protecting the environment.
NOBiS webinar event this year carries the theme “Orchid Odyssey: Revealing the Extraordinary Journey of Orchids Through The Past, Present, and Future” with the implementation time on 1st June 2024 at 09.30 online and attended by 144 participants. The NOBiS 2024 webinar aims to provide a means for the public to learn and understand the preservation of orchids in Indonesia through genome editing and tissue culture propagation techniques. Therefore, this year, BiOSC invited three speakers who have become experts in the field of orchids in Indonesia, namely Prof. Dr. Endang Semiarti, M.S., M.Sc., Prof. Dr. Dewi Kusuma, S.P., M.Si., and Dr. André Schuiteman.
Prof. Dr. Endang Semiarti, M.S., M.Sc. is a head of Laboratory of Biotechnology, Faculty of Biology Universitas Gadjah Mada and has research focus on plant tissue culture, plant molecular genetics, plant biotechnology, orchidology, cell and molecular biology. On this occasion, he shared insights regarding Indonesian Orchid Plant breeding with the application of Genome Editing. Current orchid populations in nature are decreasing due to natural disasters, illegal logging, and domestication for collection, decoration, and also for herbal medicine. So we need Ex situ and In situ conservation efforts such as genome editing using CRISPR/Cas9 system as the cheapest and easiest to apply technology, having a revolutionary impact on basic research to study gene function and plant breeding to produce new orchids with plenty of seedlings and early flowering.
Orchid production and conservation also can be supported by the method of plant tissue culture, its delivered by Prof. Dr. Dewi Sukma, S.P., M.Si. as a professor of Agronomy and Horticulture department of Agronomy and Horticulture Faculty of Agriculture IPB University and have research interest in plant genetic diversity, breeding and cultivar development and also in plant genetic engineering. Orchid need tissue culture because its lack of seed endosperm so it can provide a higher number of seedling and provide a sterile ad healthy propagules, tissue culture can be an independent breeding of time and season and also can facilitated the in vitro breeding to maintain the existence and availability of Indonesian orchid for future research and potential uses.
The last topic delivered by Dr. André the research leader in the Asia team of Royal Botanic Garden United Kingdom with the research focus on Taxonomy, Conservation and Evolution of Orchidaceae. The diversity of Indonesian orchid is about 26000 species in 800 genera, but not easy to tell because many species are poorly understood, especially the distribution of species in Borneo and New Guinea. The existence and availability of Indonesian orchid should be maintained because there is a lot of diversity and distribution of it such as Dimorphorchis lowii and Paraphalaenopsis laycockii from Borneo, Bulbophyllum muricatum and Dendrobium azureum from Tanah Papua.
It is hoped that the informative webinar material will broaden the knowledge of orchid lovers as well as introduce BiOSC to the outside as a study group that focuses on orchids with the jargon of “Tumbuh, Berkembang, Lestari”. Nusantara Orchid Biodiversity Show (NOBiS) National Photography Competition
2024: “Orchid Odyssey: Revealing the Extraordinary Journey of Orchids Through The Past, Present, and Future” expected to inspire and encourage deeper understanding of history, uniqueness, preservation, and future challenges faced by orchids. Through photography, Participants are expected to be able to express messages about the existence of orchids in the past, present and future. [Author: BiOSC]