“A
special sponge has been found underwater at Port Royal by the university that
is now being developed as an anti-cancer agent and it carries the name Port
Royal. For me, that is just great”
Minister of sports,
culture, entertainment and gender affairs, Olivia Grange, at the University of
the West Indies, Mona, 19th staging of its Research Days opening ceremony on Wednesday
February 7th 2018
Who
knew that sea sponges can possibly be a part of the fight against cancer?
Apparently
that sea sponge, which has been found underwater in Port Royal is worth JA$30
million in research money as noted in the article “Research
On Special Sea Sponge Could Hold Vital Anti-Cancer Properties”, published
Friday February 9, 2018 by Paul Clark, The
Jamaica Gleaner.
This
allocation, which is a part of an agreement on research and development between
Jamaica and South Africa in the areas of indigenous knowledge and water
research, has been set aside for the next three (3) years to fund such
ventures.
This
was revealed by Minister of sports, culture, entertainment and gender affairs,
Olivia Grange, at the University of the West Indies, Mona, 19th staging of its
Research Days opening ceremony on Wednesday February 7th 2018.
The sea sponge (Porifera) is basically a simplest multicellular living organisms that grow in all different shapes, sizes, colours, and textures. The name, which literally means “pore-bearing” refers to the countless tiny openings or holes visible on all sponges.
She
also mentioned that the UWI, Mona, was betting on researchers at UWI to come up
with more money making ideas that could benefit the government, quote: “As we
seek to cement a growth doctrine in our society, the university must ensure
that its research modalities continue to enlighten and mould socio-economic
policies, which are readily adaptable to the needs of our society”.
But
is this the best way to spend Government resources?
Government and Research
- Focus should be on Energy
Apparently,
this is a global thing, as Government, Private Sector and Universities with the
research facilities have been collaborating in this way.
The Government merely is seeking to partner, fund
and benefit when the research is commercially applicable, quote: “The
Government also plays a key role in facilitating development of a research and
development ecosystem, and as our fiscal space improves, we will continue to
commit additional funding for research”.
However,
Energy, not health should be our focus, as lifestyle changes will improve
health.
The
prevalence of lifestyle disease such as cancer, heart attack and stroke are linked
to the type and amount of food we eat.
This
is especially true of fast foods and foods with added sugars that are consumed
by children and may be linked to ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder)
in children as noted in my MICO
Wars blog article entitled “How to
Spot Hidden Sugar and How to Avoid Eating Too Much”.
The
sale of unregulated Bag juice should be the government focus along with more
Agricultural Gardens in High schools as pointed out in my blog article
entitled “Why
Ministry of Education must support School Gardens as Sugar in Bag Juice linked
to Lifestyle Diseases”.
Hopefully,
too, they'll expand on the research done by UWI and UTECH on the use of
Hydrogen as a Cooking Gas substitute as that would reduce our dependence on
imported fuel as noted in my blog article
entitled “Why
UTECH, GOJ and UWI developing Hydrogen Cooking Gas Cylinders for
Hydrogen-Electron Economy”.
We
can even go further and make Hydrogen into Hydrogen fuel cells to be use in
Electric Vehicles as explained in my blog
article entitled “UTECH
and Hydrogen as Cooking Gas – How Hydride Salts make Hydrogen Cooking Gas and
Fuel Cells possible”.
No
to mention producing Hydrogen for export via using excess Wind energy to
convert seawater, with the extracted salts being sold as a value-added product
as noted in my Geezam blog article entitled “How PCJ Offshore Windfarm may
be used to export Hydrogen and Uranium”.
So
stay tuned for more articles on University of the West Indies, Mona, 19th
staging of its Research Days!!
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