Zoom in
In January 2019 a GIBEX group from Rutgers visited the Tuanan Research Center (Central Kalimantan, Indonesia) to help explore medicinal properties of the plants in orangutan diet. The GIBEX group trained a class of 12 Indonesian scientists in Rapid Metabolome Extraction and Storage (RAMES) technology. This program was made possible by a grant from Rutgers Global Health Institute. The RAMES assays are field-deployable and can produce valuable data in the middle of the rain forest. Antifungal, antibacterial, and an anthelmintic (round worms) assays were taught during the workshop. The results showed a large percentage of plants carry antibacterial and antifungal properties; the majority held anti-yeast potential. This workshop will serve as a foundation for building GIBEX programs in Indonesia with the help of Dr. Ernawati Sinaga, the head of GIBEX-Indonesia.
Read the full story by Sarah Skubel
References
- Skubel SA, Dushenkov V, Graf BL, Niu Q, Poulev A, et al. (2018) Rapid, field-deployable method for collecting and preserving plant metabolome for biochemical and functional characterization. PLOS ONE 13(9): e0203569
