PGC Agriculture

25/09/2026

22/09/2026

🧬🎊 Launching the Agricultural Genomics Research Center (AGRC)

After years of building research capabilities through different laboratories and projects, we are finally giving these efforts a home of their own.

The AGRC facility is a project funded by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), with approximately Php 115 million allocated for equipment to establish and strengthen our capabilities in agricultural genomics and biotechnology.

This builds on the past and ongoing research and development projects supported by DOST PCAARRD and DOST PCHRD with a combined project budget of over Php 180 million, including around Php 65 million in laboratory equipment and HPC infrastructure.

With the AGRC, we now have a dedicated facility where these capabilities can be brought together—to support research, strengthen collaborations, expand extension and training activities, and provide specialized services to researchers, government agencies, industry, and other partners.

And this is just the beginning. Here’s to new opportunities, stronger collaborations, and more impactful research for Philippine agriculture.

22/09/2026

The Center will serve as one of PGC-Agriculture’s platforms for research, collaboration, and innovation in agriculture, helping bring advanced genomics and biotechnology closer to the needs of Philippine agriculture.

01/09/2026

🌱🧬 Advancing Agricultural Research Through Genomic Technology

PGC Agriculture researchers recently underwent technical training for the DNA Nanoball Sequencing Platform at the BGI MGI Headquarters in Shenzhen, China, held on August 24-28.

The training is part of the preparations for the operation of the new UPLB-Agricultural Genomics Research Center (UPLB-AGRC) which will support the establishment and expansion of sequencing research at UPLB and in the nearby Southern Luzon area.

Through strengthened technical capabilities and access to advanced sequencing technologies, PGC Agriculture continues to contribute to innovative and transformative research for agriculture and the life sciences.

24/07/2026

Congratulations to the Philippine Delegation to the International Biology Olympiad (IBO) 2026 in Lithuania! 🇵🇭🧬

PGC-Agriculture is incredibly proud of each one of you. May this achievement be just the beginning of even greater discoveries and contributions to science.

Congratulations, Team Philippines! Mabuhay kayong lahat! 🌱🔬🇵🇭

🌿 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀, 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗣𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀, 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗕𝗶𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗢𝗹𝘆𝗺𝗽𝗶𝗮𝗱 (𝗜𝗕𝗢) 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲! 🇵🇭

📍 𝗩𝗶𝗹𝗻𝗶𝘂𝘀, 𝗟𝗶𝘁𝗵𝘂𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗮 | 𝗝𝘂𝗹𝘆 𝟭𝟮–𝟭𝟵, 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲

The Philippines proudly celebrates another milestone in international science as our young biologists showcased their knowledge, determination, and passion at the 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗕𝗶𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗢𝗹𝘆𝗺𝗽𝗶𝗮𝗱 (𝗜𝗕𝗢) 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲. Competing alongside some of the brightest students from around the world, our delegates demonstrated outstanding excellence and brought honor to the country.

🏅 𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝗜𝗕𝗢 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲 𝗔𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗲𝘀

🥈 𝗠𝗶𝗻 𝗦𝘂𝗻𝗴 𝗚. 𝗟𝗲𝗲 – 𝗦𝗶𝗹𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗠𝗲𝗱𝗮𝗹 (39th place out of 301 participants worldwide)
📍 Philippine Science High School – Main Campus

🥉 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝘄𝗻 𝗥𝗲𝗻𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗢. 𝗔𝗺𝗽𝗲𝗿 – 𝗕𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘇𝗲 𝗠𝗲𝗱𝗮𝗹
📍 Philippine Science High School – Main Campus

🥉 𝗦𝗮𝗺𝘂𝗲𝗹 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗞. 𝗟𝗶 – 𝗕𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘇𝗲 𝗠𝗲𝗱𝗮𝗹
📍 De La Salle University – STEM

🌟 𝗟𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘇𝗼 𝗦𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗼 𝗥. 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗮 𝗖𝗿𝘂𝘇 – Philippine Delegate
📍 Philippine Science High School – Ilocos Region Campus

Your achievements reflect countless hours of preparation, resilience, and a genuine love for biology. You have inspired the next generation of Filipino scientists!

We also extend our deepest appreciation to the leaders and mentors whose dedication made this achievement possible.

𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽
• 𝗗𝗿. 𝗥𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗱 𝗔𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗻 𝗟. 𝗖𝗿𝘂𝘇 – Team Leader / Country Coordinator
• 𝗠𝗿. 𝗘𝗱𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗞𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗻 𝗕. 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝘀 – Head Mentor

A special thank you to our exceptional training pool of national coaches for generously sharing their expertise across different fields of biology:

🧬 𝗠𝗼𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗕𝗶𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗕𝗶𝗼𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆
• Mr. Edward Kevin B. Bragais (Ateneo de Manila University)

🦴 𝗔𝗻𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗹 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗽𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆, 𝗣𝗵𝘆𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀
• Ms. Abby Escobar (University of Santo Tomas)
• Mr. EZ Peralta (University of Santo Tomas)
• Mr. Kent Sorgon (Ateneo de Manila University)
• Dr. Emman Delocado (Ateneo de Manila University)

🌱 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝘂𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗕𝗶𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆
• Don Emanuel Cardona (Philippine Genome Center)
• Roneil Christian Alonday (Philippine Genome Center)
• Weljane Lou Mantalaba (Philippine Genome Center)
• Kaito Furusho (Philippine Genome Center)

📝 𝗧𝗲𝘀𝘁-𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗲𝘀
• Ms. Karen Natera (Ateneo de Manila University)

This accomplishment is a testament to the power of collaboration among students, mentors, universities, and research institutions working together to nurture scientific excellence.

Congratulations once again to 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗣𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗽𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀! 🇵🇭 Your achievements are a source of pride for the nation and an inspiration to future generations of Filipino biologists.

𝙈𝙖𝙗𝙪𝙝𝙖𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙜 𝙠𝙖𝙗𝙖𝙩𝙖𝙖𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙞𝙮𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙜 𝙋𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙤! 🌿🔬🇵🇭

20/07/2026

𝔹𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕡𝕠𝕝𝕪(𝔸) 𝕥𝕒𝕚𝕝 𝕥𝕠 𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕥𝕣𝕒𝕟𝕤𝕔𝕣𝕚𝕡𝕥—𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕡𝕝𝕖𝕥𝕖 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕞𝕖𝕤𝕤𝕒𝕘𝕖!

Nominate a deserving PSBMB-SLC Board member for the 2026–2027 term. Nominations are open until July 25!

We are pleased to invite you to participate in the 2026 PSBMB-SLC Board of Directors Nomination (One Vacant Position) for the 2026–2027 term.

Lifetime Members and Regular Members in good standing as of the 52nd PSBMB Convention in Nueva Ecija are eligible to vote, be nominated, and be elected.

You are invited to nominate one (1) qualified member from the list provided.

09/07/2026

𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐲𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐛𝐢𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲.

The Bioinformatics Team of the Philippine Genome Center Program for Agriculture participated in the Strengthening Cyberbiosecurity Safeguards within Genomic Research Institutions in the Philippines workshop held on 6–8 July 2026 in Manila.

𝑻𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒅𝒗𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒄 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒉.

08/07/2026

📌NEW PUBLICATION📌

𝓑𝓪𝓬𝓴2𝓑𝓪𝓬𝓴 𝓟𝓾𝓫𝓵𝓲𝓬𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷 𝓗𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓵𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽𝓼

Article:
𝐂𝐡𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐏𝐡𝐲𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐀𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐊𝐚𝐭𝐦𝐨𝐧 (𝘿𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙖 𝙥𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙥𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙨 𝐑𝐨𝐥𝐟𝐞): 𝐀 𝐏𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐄𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐅𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐭

We are excited to share our new publication in Agricultural Science Digest entitled “Chloroplast Genome and Phylogenetic Analysis of Katmon (Dillenia philippinensis Rolfe): A Philippine Endemic Fruit” authored by Jairus Jake M. Lucero, Judy Ann M. Muñoz, Lyka Y. Aglibot, Don Emanuel Cardona, Lavernee S. Gueco, Aprill P. Manalang, Jeric C. Villanueva, and Roneil Christian S. Alonday, a joint research output of the MOTIF PH Project (DOST-PCHRD funded) of Philippine Genome Center Program for Agriculture and National Plant Genetic Resources Laboratory - Institute of Plant Breeding from the University of the Philippines Los Baños.

This study reports the complete chloroplast genome of katmon, characterizes its gene content, SSRs, and codon usage, and clarifies its phylogenetic relationships within Dilleniaceae—providing a foundational genomic resource for germplasm characterization, conservation, and future breeding of underutilized Philippine fruit crops.

Link to the article: https://arccjournals.com/journal/agricultural-science-digest/DF-823