On 7th September-9th September 2020, Professor Dr. Fahrul Huyop from the Department of Biosciences and his team member Assoc. Prof. Ch.M Dr. Roswanira Ab. Wahab of the Chemistry Department visited the Faculty of Food Science & Nutrition, University Malaysia Sabah (UMS). A special invitation from Assoc. Prof. Dr. Amir Husni Mohd Shariff and the Dean of the Faculty, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Patricia Matanjun was extended to the researchers to work on a new Borneo Green Honey project from Pulau Banggi, off the coast of Sabah.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Patricia hands over a token of appreciation to Prof. Dr. Fahrul for his visits.
The Green Honey is produced by a species of ground-dwelling honey bees endemic to Sabah. To date, the medicinal and nutritive values of the honey remains unknown, and the information is pertinent for guaranteeing export quality and for local consumption. The project is funded by a local company, NS Field Sdn. Bhd.
From Left Dr. Nurul Huda, Ms Carmen Wong from NS Field Sdn. Bhd., Prof. Madya Dr. Amir Husni, Prof. Dr. Fahrul Huyop and Prof. Madya Ch.M Dr. Roswanira Ab Wahab. During dinner-meeting the company has agreed to shoulder the project on green honey.
Apart from Green Honey project, the UTM delegates were also invited to visit the Biotechnology Research Institute (IPB) of UMS by the Director Dr. Zarina Amin. The researchers discussed future collaboration between the two institutions in terms of joint publication, co-supervision of M.Sc and Ph.D students, as well as joint proposal development. Dr Zarina hopes that the collaborative work between UMS and UTM will positively impact on postgraduate student enrolment in IPB.
Prof. Dr. Fahrul Huyop (in the middle) and left is the Director of the Institute Dr. Zarina Amin.
Dr. Mailin Misson, a principle researcher of IPB took Professor Dr. Fahrul Huyop and Assoc. Prof. Ch.M Dr. Roswanira Ab. Wahab on a tour of the laboratories in the institute.
Professor Fahrul Huyop, Prof. Madya Ch.M Dr. Roswanira Ab. Wahab, Dr. Mailin Misson and other researchers at the institute.
On the third day activities conducted involved discussions with ongoing projects on Metagenomic analysis of Lake Tuz and Genomic Analysis of bacteria isolated from Soda lake, both in Turkey. Both projects were co-led by Dr Yilmaz Kaya from Ondokuz Mayis University in Samsun and Professor Dr. Fahrul Huyop , exploring new enzymes from extremophiles for possible food-related research, in which the two participating Ph.D candidates are from UTM.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Amir (from left) and his team member at the Faculty.
The UMS visit ended with a tour in Kundasang, a popular tourists destination located at foot of Mount Kinabalu.
