Young Scientists of IPB University Speak on Panggung Indonesia 2045
Young IPB University scientist, Dr. Yessie Widya Sari talked about bone and dental health supplements derived from agricultural waste on Panggung Indonesia 2045: “Meet Young Scientist”. Panggung Indonesia 2045 is one of the series of “Menuju Seabad Republik” movement initiated by Tempo and the Tempo Institute. The event was opened by Prof. Sangkot Marzuki. This movement is an invitation for all to hand in hand to shape the face of Indonesia at the age of one hundred years.
Dr. Yessie Widya Sari, a lecturer at IPB University from the Department of Physics, began the presentation by provoking the understanding of agriculture for the general public. Dr. Yessie conveyed the definition of agriculture from the perspective of biomaterial researchers, which has a broad meaning, especially relating to the process of harvesting sunlight and the utilization of biological resources through engineering technology to increase the use-value of agriculture, especially waste and by-products. In her presentation entitled “from agriculture-by products to health supplements, our contribution to the nation’s sovereignty”, Dr. Yessie explained the utilization of calcium phosphate for the prevention of osteoporosis that can attack anyone without age. “Osteoporosis is a degenerative disease caused by bone demineralization which makes it a silent killer. Bone demineralization occurs due to calcium deficiency in bones and teeth which triggers bone loss, “she explained.
The high prevalence of osteoporosis underlies Dr. Yessie to conduct research related to calcium phosphate in hard tissues of bones and teeth. The research began in 2004 by examining the structure of human and animal bones which contain the largest composition of minerals in the form of hydroxyapatite. Realizing the abundance of eggshell waste that is rich in calcium, Dr. Yessie managed to treat eggshell waste as a source of calcium for calcium phosphate supplements. Research continues until 2017, Dr. Yessie did an optimization to obtain nano-sized hydroxyapatite and successfully obtained a patent. She also continues to develop research results for the downstream of research results in the form of bone and dental health supplements that have gone through pre-clinical testing of product biocompatibility.
In this event, the best research results from young Indonesian scientists were presented. Then a dialogue was held between researchers and regulators about the future of Indonesian research. Besides Dr. Yessie, Yanuar Nugroho, Ph.D. (Deputy II Chief of Presidential Staff) was also present as well as Prof. Dr. Sangkot Marzuki, founder of the Eijkman Institute research institute, Ibnu Nadzir, M.Sc, LIPI social research staff, Muhammad Faisal, Ph.D., founder of Youth Laboratory Indonesia, Ben Laksana and Rara Sekar, freelance researchers.
This activity was also attended by Jakarta Pulse UN researcher, Muhammad Rheza who is also an alumni of IPB University. Panggung Indonesia 2045 closed with a dialogue session between researchers and regulators about the future of Indonesian research. The discussion, hosted by Prita Laura, also invites young people to be involved in research and make research a national culture. (IAAS/YN)
