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Amid our panic and terror brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Raul Destura and his team of UP scientists are giving the Filipinos and the rest of world a reason to hope.
As soon as news on the novel coronavirus or COVID-19 broke, microbiology and biotechnology expert Dr. Raul Destura knew he was confronted with a tough but important mission for his fellow Filipinos.
“He already knew that this day will happen,” UP Manila Chancellor Dr. Carmencita Padilla reveals at the media briefing on UP’s reponse to COVID-19 held at the Philippine Genome Center in UP Diliman. As early as February, Padilla was taking note of the rising number of COVID-19 cases around the world. “So when UP was summoned at the Senate and was asked what the UP-Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH) and UP Manila-National Institutes of Health (UP-NIH) can do, our executive director Dr. Eva Maria C. Cutiongco-dela Paz and our scientist Dr. Raul Destura already informed the Senate that we shall ready the testing kit.”
The SARS-CoV-2 PCR detection kit was developed through the funding from the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (DOST-PCHRD). It took over two weeks of sleepless nights for Dr. Destura and his team of 15 UP scientists to develop it.
As the Deputy Executive Director of the Philippine Genome Center, Destura likens himself to being the conductor of a symphony. “Kailangan meron kang idea, meron kang experimental design. Bawat proseso, may team of scientists. This is the part you will do, this is the part he will do. And then we convene—umaga tanghali, gabi, madaling-araw—kasi we lack time!” he says.
Like any scientific study, Dr. Destura says the whole process of developing the kit was very tedious. One simple test clearly was not enough; they had to keep repeating every step of the way, 40 to 60 times, to prove the technology’s sensitivity and specificity. Dr. Destura’s role to the team is to validate their findings, challenge the results, and “give solutions when they’re hitting a wall.”
In the process of developing the kit, putting the acid together was the biggest challenge. “Yung nanduon na lahat ng components. Titimplahin mo kasi lahat ng conditions isa-isa. Aside from that, gagawan mo ngayon ng perturbations yung mga conditions mo. Maapektuhan ba sya pag tumaas ito? Maaapektuhan ba sya pag binawasan mo nito? Lahat yun kailangan mong gawin. Nakakaubos sya ng buhok,” says the doctor, eliciting some laughter from the audience. In the media briefing, Dr. Destura seems to be a mild mannered man, has a cheerful disposition, is well-loved by those around him, and yes, there’s not very much hair on that head anymore.
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