SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND SOCIETY A Reading Material Prepared by: Christine Polyanna Zabariza Department of Biological Sciences VI. SELECTED INDIGENOUS SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGIES Indigenous science is a product of indigenous knowledge perfected by people through life experiences. It is the use of science process skills guided by community culture and values composed of traditional/indigenous knowledge. Indigenous knowledge is one that is embedded in the cultural traditions of regional, indigenous, or local communities. This knowledge system is passed on orally and is evident in their stories, poems, and songs. Note that this type of knowledge also includes superstitious beliefs and practices which may be a product of human imagination. Indigenous technologies, on the other hand, are processes or products resulting from studying indigenous science. It is designed and fabricated based on the culture, tradition and needs of people and which is adopted for use in the environment of those people. While some indigenous sciences and technologies are already obsolete, their importance lies in that they helped early communities in understanding the natural environment and in coping with their everyday lives. More so, these are part of our rich and unique cultural heritage. Let’s take a look at the different indigenous science and technologies developed in the early times with some examples from our country. Indigenous Knowledge and Science: Herbal Medicine and Traditional Health Practices Years before the arrival of the Spaniards in the Philippines, the use of medicinal plants was the common way of treating ailments and there were several books that compiled these medicinal plants. Since ancient times up to this day, medicinal plants have been used for treatment in most countries. In fact, the Department of Health approved 10 medicinal plants (garlic, sambong, guava, to name a few) to prevent and treat certain diseases. Thanks to our ancestors who carefully observed and utilized these plants. Truly, the development of modern medicine is based on the practices of plant-based traditional medicine, a hundred of years of beliefs and observations. We also have a long list of traditional health practices that some of us still perform up to this day. We have hilot to treat sprains and fractures, tawas to determine the cause and nature of sudden illnesses through the use of potassium alum, and many more. Indigenous Science: Food Preservation Ages-old food preservation techniques include drying, smoking, cooling, freezing, fermenting, salting, pickling, and canning. Drying and smoking are one of the most ancient methods of food preservation. It works because it removes much of the food's water and therefore prevents microbial activity as we all know now. Indigenous Science: Classifying Soils One of the indigenous practices of early Filipinos is classifying soils for planting. Criteria used by early Filipino farmers in soil classification are their experiences supported by their ability to observe attributes of soil resources. This is their way to identify the best use, and appropriate management practices of the soil resource. Philippine Indigenous Technologies Indigenous technologies are processes or products which are the results of studying indigenous science. Following are the indigenous technologies that have emerged out of Filipino’s creativity, originality and inventiveness. These technologies are now part of our lives when they come to medicine, food products, industry, and other aspects of human existence. 1. Yoyo This is a toy consisting of an axle connected to two disks and a string looped around the axle. It is played by holding the handle (string) by inserting one finger into a knot at its free end. A Filipino immigrant to the US named Pedro Flores is credited with popularizing the toy in the 1920s, making it the ubiquitous plaything that we still recognize today. While working as a bellhop at a local hotel in Santa Barbara, Flores started hand-making copies of the yoyo for local children. He was so instantly successful that he had hired two other workers by November 1928 to handcraft as many copies as they could produce. At the time, the predominant yo-yo design featured the string tied and knotted around the axle. While this allowed the discs to go back-and-forth, it severely limited the kind of tricks one could do with the toy. Flores, however, decided to come up with a different idea. Instead of simply tying the axle to the end of a string, he doubled the length of the string and looped it around the axle. This design, called the looped slip-string, allowed the yo-yo to spin with greater stability and suspension of movement. This, in turn, enabled the player to perform a wide range of tricks that previously weren’t possible. But even if he was the one who started the craze of yoyo in the US, it was the Americans, specifically Donald F. Duncan Sr., who mass produced the yoyo, which became one of the most distinct toys in the history. 2. Medical Incubator Medical incubator is a device that provides sufficient warmth to the body to maintain a desired temperature, especially used for newborn children. But did you know that it was a Filipina who first developed a low cost prototype of this machine? In a bid to help families in rural communities without electricity, Dr. Fe del Mundo invented a bamboo incubator in 1941. Her makeshift incubator was composed of two native laundry baskets made of bamboo which were placed one inside the other and was provided with hot water all around between the baskets to make warmth available to the newborn babies, especially premature born before the mother’s 37th week of pregnancy. Although she did not create the modern medical incubator that we see now in hospitals, her work still provided the theoretical basis for it and the prototype as well. And did you know that she was also the first Asian student at Harvard University's School of Medicine? 3. Erythromycin You might have come across Erythromycin before or might have actually taken some. It is an antibiotic used to treat a wide variety of bacterial infections, such as skin and upper respiratory tract infections. On one fateful day in 1949, a physician named Abelardo Aguilar collected soil samples in his backyard in Iloilo to isolate microorganisms. Little did he know that one of his isolates would then lead to the discovery of the potent antibiotic Erythromycin. In good faith, he sent the soil samples to his company who then worked on isolating a strain of the Streptomyces erythraeae, which produced Erythromycin as its metabolic products. Commercially, the company launched the product in 1952 under the brand name Ilosone and Ilotycin, acknowledging where the antibiotic came from. Sadly though, he did not get the credit for this medical discovery. His company Eli Lily Co. filed for both patent protection and the U.S. Patent without giving Dr. Aguilar any royalties nor credit for his discovery. 4. Patis or Fish Sauce Ruperta David, who was popularly known as Aling Tentay, was the woman behind the discovery of this condiment in the Philippines in the 1940s. Tentay Patis was born as a sideline. Like most moms, Aling Tentay was just looking for ways to provide for her growing family. Never in her wildest dreams did she imagine that her homegrown backyard business would one day become an internationally distributed brand. The family’s main fishing business had a big catch for the day, and conscious about wastage, Aling Tentay pickled the unsold fish. When it fermented later on, some of the salted fish that she stored in a jar turned into fragments which then resulted into a liquid mixture. She first had friends and family try the new discovery, giving it out as gifts, and then selling it (as a by-product) to make extra money on the side. From then on, the business started but was only registered in 1949 as Tentay Food and Sauces Inc. 5. Banana Catsup Banana Catsup is a condiment that many Filipinos love to use for almost every known fried dish. This was actually the brainchild of a Pinay food technologist Maria Orosa y Ylagan. According to historical accounts, she created the first recipe for banana catsup and experimented with foods that are native to the Philippines. One day, she created a banana sauce with mashed bananas, vinegars, and spices. The brownishyellow color was not very appetizing, so a little red dye was added, turning it to what is today known as banana ketchup. Orosa was also the woman behind the discovery of food products such as calamansi nip, a desiccated powdered form of calamansi to make calamansi juice, and Soyalac and Darak. Soyalac is a protein-rich, highly nutritious powdered soybean product, while Darak is a rice by-product that is high in B vitamins, thiamine, and vitamins A, D, and E (intended to fight the vitamin B deficiency disease, beriberi). These “magic food” became a great help to save the lives of many prisoners during World War II which were locked in concentration camps known for poor sanitation, and lack of food that resulted to a lot of death due to malnutrition. 6. Anti-cancer Cream and Mole Remover Rolando dela Cruz is a Filipino inventor who won the gold medal for creating an anti-cancer cream at the prestigious International Inventor’s Forum in November of 2005. It is called “DeBCC” cream, and was developed from cashew nuts and other local herbs. It is used specifically for basal skin carcinoma (BSC), which is known as the most prevalent type of skin cancer worldwide. Fourteen patients with chronic skin cancer were said to have been cured within 16 weeks with the application of the cream on the affected areas. The trial involved no radical surgeries or procedures. No recurrences were noted after a follow-up of more than two years. He was also able to develop a cream that allows removal of deep growth moles and warts on skin. 7. 16-bit Microchip The first 16-BIT Microchip was developed by a Filipino. Diosdado Banatao developed the first single-chip graphical user interface accelerator that made computers work a lot faster. This invention has allowed computer users to make graphical presentations using graphics for commands through small chips instead of using large board. After finishing his master's degree, Banatao worked with different technology companies such as the National Semiconductor, Intersil, and Commodore International where he designed the first single chip, 16-bit microprocessor-based calculator. In 1981, he discovered and invented the first 10-Mbit Ethernet CMOS with silicon coupler data-link control and transreceiver chip while working in SEEQ Technology. He was also credited for the first system logic chip set for IBM's PC-XT and the PC-AT; the local bus concept and the first Windows Graphics accelerator chip for personal computers.
