FROM THE EDITOR

In this December 2019 issue of Science Diliman, we feature three research articles 
and one short communication from various disciplines in the biological sciences, 
and one research article on an analysis of the scientific publications of the College 
of Science (CS), University of the Philippines Diliman (UPD).

Ecologists Jay Fidelino and Jelaine Gan from UPD determined the patterns of 
insectivorous bat activity, richness, and assemblage vis-à-vis habitat type, insect 
abundance, and environmental conditions within an urban green space in Metro 
Manila, the Philippines’ capital region. Although bats are not as charismatic as 
other animals, they are important to ecosystems. Bats provide indirect benefits to 
humans, too. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the use of bat 
activity to study the effects of urbanization and other land use changes. The study 
done by Fidelino and Gan is among the very few studies on bats in an urban setting 
in the Philippines.

Developmental Biologist Jordan Ferdin Halili from UPD and his co-workers 
evaluated the cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of the Money Tree (Pachira aquatica) 
on plant and animal models as a preliminary screening for the Money Tree’s anti-
cancer potential. Over the years, there have been a number of studies conducted 
to discover compounds from plants that can be used to treat cancer and other 
diseases. Halili and his co-workers found promising cytostatic and cytocidal effects 
of stem and leaf extracts from the Money Tree, which, according to the authors, 
indicate that the plant is a potential source of a nature-based chemotherapeutic 
compound.

Cell Biologist Michael Velarde from UPD and his co-workers studied the effects of 
extracts from seeds of six species of legumes on the growth of estrogen-responsive 
breast cancer cell line. Their study is important because these legumes are grown 
for human consumption. Although we derive nutritional benefits from consuming 
legumes, some species may have components that mimic human estrogens, which 
may disrupt normal body processes or promote diseases, according to the authors. 
Velarde et al. found that low doses of extracts from common beans and cowpeas 
slightly promoted the growth of breast cancer cells, but high doses decreased the 
cancer cells’ growth. This suggests that certain legumes have potential estrogenic 
activities at certain doses.



The fourth research article in this issue is an analysis done by Geologist Carlos 
Primo David and his Research Associate Mart Cyrel Geronia from CS, UPD on the 
scientific productivity of the different institutes within CS, UPD over a period of 20 
years, i.e., from 1998 to 2017. The authors only included in their analysis scientific 
publications from Thomson Reuters’ Web of Science (now maintained by Clarivate 
Analytics) and Scopus. The authors derived valuable insights from their data such as 
the possible drivers of scientific productivity, the need for research collaborations 
with other local and foreign institutions, and the challenge of publishing in 
prestigious and high-impact journals.

The last article, authored by Arvin Pacoma and Leni Yap-Dejeto from the University 
of the Philippines Visayas-Tacloban College, is an analysis of the total mercury 
content of canned tuna and yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacores) and frigate tuna 
(Auxist hazard) caught from the waters of Eastern Visayas, Philippines. The authors 
also estimated the daily intake for locally caught tuna and accompanying total 
mercury concentrations; they found that these values were way below the allowed 
concentration of mercury in fish consumed per day regardless of sex and age, which 
suggests that there is no health risk to consumers. As for commercially available 
canned tuna, the authors recommend that no more than one can per day should be 
consumed by adults and that children and pregnant women should consume less.

                                                                                              Jonas P. Quilang, Ph.D.
                        Editor-in-Chief