#pi 100

From Albina Pecson Fernandez's Rizal on Women and Children in the Struggle for Nationhood.

In my PI 100 (Rizal) class this midyear term, as a final reflection paper requirement, we were tasked to relate our discipline/course degree to our National Hero, Jose Rizal. I was quite intimidated, at first, by this task, because I thought it would be so much of a stretch to associate anything about Molecular Biology and Biotechnology to him, someone from the late 1800s. But I think I managed the requirement well. Actually, I kinda liked what I wrote, and so I guess I’d post it here. So yeah, here goes.

“Jose Rizal was many things, but he’s not a molecular biologist.”

At first I felt great challenge at the task of relating our National Hero to my course, Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (MBB). The field is relatively very new, not even in formal existence during Rizal’s time. The intricacies of DNA, proteins, and the like, have not been elucidated then, and Rizal’s interests and fields of expertise were far from being associated with these. Or so I thought.

From what I learned in this class, Rizal is timeless. Timeless in a sense that everything that he’s done and was involved in have translated into bigger things – things that have shaped the bigger picture and are still relevant to the life we now live today. Jose Rizal’s writings helped spark a revolution, which eventually paved the way for us to achieve independence. In a technical sense, this shouldn’t be taken as a small thing because what did he do? He wrote about the condition in the Philippines, crafting complex characters that made a critique of the setting that the Filipinos back then lived in. He wrote messages to the different peoples that made up our country – men, women, the youth. He inspired us to think better of ourselves, to know we’re capable of more. He did so in a very careful way, as to be subtle and not be overtly offensive to our oppressors. However, beneath all of that, what did he actually do? He wrote. He wrote, but he generated an effect so huge it reached the hearts of many Filipinos. And ultimately, I believe this is what MBB is all about as well – small things translating into bigger things. In MBB, we do things down to the molecular level – studying the interaction of some protein with a particular stretch of DNA, analyzing the effect of a particular drug to a population of an infectious parasite, examining the characteristics of a certain organism that has piqued the interest of many due to its extraordinary ability to survive in extreme conditions. And from these very miniscule studies, great things we are able to make of. That protein-DNA interaction may help shed light on behavioral patterns on abused children. The effect of that drug to a population of parasites may help find a cure for a horrible disease such as malaria. And that organism with extraordinary survival abilities may pave the way for prolonging human lifespans to a point of essential immortality or curing cancer. Small things translating into bigger things.

Rizal’s life was not smooth-sailing, his journey was met with many hindrances and misfortunes – all of which shaped his character and what his life and purpose became. He experienced stresses in his early life with his family, he encountered hardships during his time in school, and when he was an adult and ready to publish a novel of his own, he was met with financial constraints. As much as this is relatable to many, it especially struck a chord in me and on my perception of myself as a molecular biologist and all the others out there like me. These hindrances affect our craft as much as it affects us as people. Rizal’s story and his persona as a hero was shaped by his experiences, and this in turn influenced what he was able to accomplish. Similarly, struggles affect and shape what molecular biologists are able to make of their role in this field. In our field, what we do and study can easily be met with criticism from various groups – from big “non-profit” organizations that are popular in society, down to our very own families at home. Our discoveries may very well challenge the very things that have been taught to us in schools. Our research is also very much limited by financial constraints – from actually conducting the research to publishing the findings and their implications in a renowned journal. Furthermore, aside from these external factors, internal factors intrinsic to the very practice of research in MBB also come into play. Sometimes a particular experiment yields negative or even unexpected results, it is then our job to make the best out of the given situation – either optimize protocols to adjust for errors and other variables, take the negative result for what it is and analyze that, or redirect the direction of your research according to what was produced. But above all this, I guess what I learned as a parallel from Rizal is to take what you do beyond these constraints. Earlier, I mentioned that “Jose Rizal’s writings helped spark a revolution, which eventually paved the way for us to achieve independence.” I specifically used the word “independence” instead of “freedom” because I’m aware that we are not truly free. We are not truly free because, for one, we live in a capitalist society where financial constraints dictate what we are physically capable of doing in our research, how our discoveries are received by society, and even the very point of if we get to publish what we have studied in a notable journal. It is our duty to take our craft and ourselves outside this box of limitations because you do things for a greater purpose. Rizal, after publishing his novels, came back to the Philippines to stand firm with what he published for his people. As a molecular biologist, it is your job to find your way around the problems you encounter in your research, and it is your duty to succeed in doing so because you are doing it for the people. You are doing it for that kid diagnosed with ADHD, you are doing it for that Stage 4 leukemia patient, you are doing it for those indigenous people suffering with malaria – you are doing it for your country.

Jose Rizal was many things; he was a novelist, a poet, an ophthalmologist, a natural scientist, a polymath, a nationalist, a hero. He was not a molecular biologist, but he very well could have been.

Sir Nilo: *plays Bruce Springsteen's Born in the USA*

Sir Nilo: *plays Rihanna's American Oxygen*

Me: (to my seatmate) Saan ang Party in the USA ni Miley?

Sir Nilo: *plays Miley Cyrus's Party in the USA*

I actually liked this reaction paper of mine. But it’s a pity that I can only pass the first paragraph. Here it is:

Isang panaginip ang buhay.

Life is a dream.