Genome expert asks: Who is the Filipino?

Manila (Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN) - It is a question that has been asked for generations: "Who is the Filipino?"

A Filipino-American scientist and global genomics expert believes the answer is in every one of us, literally.

Michael Purugganan, a world authority on the molecular study of the origin, evolution and characteristics of organisms, is calling on the government, private sector and Filipino scientists to embark on the Philippines' own genome project-an undertaking that would determine where the Filipino comes from.

"One of the things that I've always advocated is a systematic analysis of the genome of Filipinos... It's still really basic research but I think it has practical values. It allows us to see, for example, what genetic diseases we might have, which might help doctors," Purugganan told the Inquirer on Jan. 30.

"Just as important is that it allows us to see who we are, to tell the story of who we are. That's a very powerful idea, that we as Filipinos can go to our DNA and see who we are and what makes us different," said the dean of science at New York University (NYU) while on a visit to Manila.

Purugganan, who works closely on rice genome studies with the Laguna-based International Rice Research Institute, proposed to look into the DNA of a representative group of 10 Filipinos from different provinces and tribal groups, and sequence their genome, the entirety of an organism's genetic makeup.

The project would ultimately answer the question that one local apparel brand posed through billboard ads last year: "What's your mix?"

"I remember somebody asking me that and I had to think about it. I said, 'I actually don't know what being a Filipino means genetically.' So, genetically we're mixtures of Taiwanese, Chinese, Indonesian, Indian, Arab, Spanish, probably some American and British. It's just different degrees," Purugganan said.

This is not to say, however, that no one is native Filipino, said Purugganan, who became the features editor of the Collegian in the early 1980s and finished a chemistry degree at the University of the Philippines (UP), before taking up advanced studies in top universities in the United States.

Most everyone, after all, is born with a mix of bloodlines from different parts of the world, given the long history of human migration, settlement and, in the case of the Philippines, colonisation.

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Genome expert asks: Who is the Filipino?