MANILA, Philippines—A grade school Chemistry experiment, a supportive high school science teacher and a longtime fascination with living things made him what he is today—a scientist whose pioneering research paved the way for the use of venom as a potent pain reliever.
Baldomero “Toto” M. Olivera, a distinguished professor of biology at University of Utah in the United States and the Harvard Foundation’s 2007 Scientist of the Year, has been hailed for his work in neurotoxins which is produced by venomous cone snails commonly found in the tropical waters of his native Philippines.
The research conducted by his group became the basis for the commercial drug Prialt (generic name: Ziconotide), which is considered more effective than morphine and does not result in addiction. (But Olivera’s group was not able to patent its work, and it never profited from the sales of the drug.)
Olivera was in the second grade when his teacher taught him to perform a simple experiment to find out which substances were soluble in water.
The boy went around soaking everything he could get hold of in water, and was hooked on science experiments for life.
“I feel I was just lucky. Every second grader should get to do an experiment,” quipped the Utah-based Olivera at the UP Centennial celebration with University of the Philippines faculty, students and alumni at the UP Film Center in Diliman, Quezon City.
On that day, Jan. 16, he delivered a lecture, “From cone snail venoms to drugs: The scientific odyssey of a UP graduate,” and was later conferred an honorary doctor of science degree by his alma mater.
“For Olivera, discovery, and the sense of power that it was something he could determine himself, something that he didn’t know before, is one reason he is a scientist today,” said UP marine scientist Giselle Concepcion, who introduced the man to his audience.
Nine UP campuses nationwide took part in the gathering via videoconference. The program was Webcast for UP alumni all over the world.
Nature’s wonders
As an only child cloistered in isolation with his parents, and having no neighbors and playmates, Olivera often found himself alone with plenty of time on his hands.
This led to a love for reading as well as a fascination with nature’s wonders, particularly seashells, and what he described as their diverse shapes and intricate colors and patterns.
According to Concepcion, Olivera became an avid shell collector early on, honing his keen, meticulous talent for detailed observation. Thus, his understanding of snail morphology, taxonomy, biology and behavior became almost intuitive later in his scientific career.
In Olivera’s own narration, an important influence in his life was the late Dolly Hernandez of UP, a dedicated high school teacher in chemistry and zoology who recognized his unique talents and inspired and guided him toward a career in science.
Now the scientist wishes to return the favor by encouraging the youth to feed on their inherent inquisitiveness.
RP biodiversity planet’s richest
At the subsequent forum, Olivera said he was supporting a project initiative involving marine biodiversity links for young Filipino students.
The project, which he described as in its “very early stages,” is aimed at finding appropriate individuals to help him reach out to second- and third-grade students.
Olivera’s own vision is to have UP college students visit primary schools and teach the children how to conduct experiments.
He said he was trying to combine experiments in chemistry with those that would expose students to biodiversity.
Part of Olivera’s vision is public education to help protect the Philippines’ marine biodiversity, which he described as the richest on the planet.
“More than anything else, the students—second graders and third graders—need to know that the marine animals around them may seem very commonplace, but are found nowhere else,” he said.
Olivera said he was “very optimistic” about the prospect: “I think that in a few years, the general attitude [will change] dramatically because of a few people who are very dedicated.
“And it’s clear that educating the receptive population about the uniqueness of a particular species is really helping conserve biodiversity.”
Cone snails
Olivera said in his lecture that Filipino fishermen might have collected more cone snails than any other group on earth.
The reason for this, he said, was that the fishermen knew where and when to find them.
“Furthermore, there are more species of cone snails found in the Philippines than in any other place. And part of the reason for this is our own geological history,” he said, adding:
“The country’s geological history of tectonic plates—the same geological history that has given [it] volcanic eruptions and earthquakes—has also led to the evolution of the richest marine biota in the planet.”
Excellent mentor
Olivera was recently cited by UP for being “an excellent collaborator and mentor of young scientists, allowing them to work directly on advanced problems, thus accelerating their technical training and developing their self-confidence at a crucial stage of their career.”
Role model
He was also recognized for demonstrating “genuine concern in the intellectual development and technical training of Filipino graduate students, permitting them meaningful access to state-of-the-art facilities and valuable technical advice for serving as a role model to inspire young students to pursue a career in the biological sciences, thereby ensuring the continuous generation of new scientific knowledge.”
He was recognized by the Harvard Foundation for his “outstanding achievements and contributions to American science, and for his notable contributions to molecular biology and groundbreaking work with conotoxins.”
Olivera majored in chemistry at UP and graduated summa cum laude and valedictorian of the UP Class of 1960.
He also became a Fulbright scholar and pursued his Ph.D. in biochemistry at California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
