Florence Pauline Basubas named DOST-Davao science ambassador

Florence Pauline “Pauli” Basubas, a 28-year-old Filipina space biologist and biomedical scientist, has been named a science ambassador by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST)-Davao Region. The appointment took place on October 15 during the opening of the Regional Science, Technology, and Innovation Week (RSTW) in Davao City.

Basubas conducts research into how living organisms respond to extraterrestrial conditions, such as variations in gravity, radiation, atmosphere, and nutrient availability. Her work involves studying how biological systems, including cells and tissues, react to microgravity, often utilizing parabolic flights to simulate near-weightless environments.

Her research aims to understand how life on Earth differs from life in space, seeking to apply findings from space biology to improve terrestrial life sciences, such as DNA repair mechanisms and drug discovery.