Outstanding International Student- Pricilla Oluwakemi Aiyedun
The future depends on what you do today ‒ Mahatma Gandhi.
Priscilla (Oluwakemi) Aiyedun is a final year Ph.D. student that is assessing the genetic diversity of bitter yam (Dioscorea dumetorum) at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.
Bitter yam is valued for its medicinal properties and has been used for centuries in traditional medicine to treat various ailments such as diabetes and pains. Bitter yam is majorly cultivated in West and Central Africa especially in Nigeria and Cameroon (Adeniran et al 2020) and consume as a staple food in many African homes. I remember my Grandfather consuming bitter yam most of the time and also taught me how to eat the yam.
As the name suggests, bitter yam is bitter and you have to learn how to eat it (at least I did). The yam is also not a choice yam species because it is majorly affected by a severe post-harvest hardening phenomenon which leads to a loss of culinary qualities. Its medicinal purposes however cannot overemphasize (Adeniran and Sonibare, 2017). For instance, Recent studies have shown that bitter yam is the source of essential drugs for treating diabetes. That is where Pricilla comes in because she is using transcriptomics (analysis of RNA transcript) to identify the genes that are responsible for the antidiabetic activities of bitter yam and also to analyze their antidiabetic compounds.
Diabetes is a chronic disease that affects millions of people worldwide. It is caused by the body’s inability to produce or use insulin, a hormone that regulates blood sugar levels. Current treatments for diabetes include insulin injections, oral medications, and lifestyle changes such as diet and exercise. The ethnomedicinal uses of bitter yam in Diabetes treatments have been studied and established in Nigeria. Bitter yam is therefore recommended to be consumed as a dietary bioactive food because it contains compounds that mimic the effects of insulin in the body (my grandfather probably knew this). Due to its anti-diabetic properties, Bitter yam is a source of important drugs for pharmaceutical industries. For instance, it contained such antidiabetic compounds as dioscoretins and metformin. Dioscoretins have been found to lower blood sugar levels and improve insulin sensitivity in animal studies. Metformin is a commonly prescribed medication for type 2 diabetes. It works by reducing glucose production in the liver and increasing insulin sensitivity. Metformin is also found in other plants.
Since bitter yam is an important source of essential drugs for treating diabetes, its medicinal properties make it a valuable resource in traditional and modern medicine. Pricilla’s work is therefore crucial in identifying the genes involved in its antidiabetic activities. Her work would add to the available genetic data of bitter yam and lay the foundation for genetically engineering its medicinally essential traits. Her discoveries may lead to the development of new drugs that target the same pathways as other antidiabetic compounds found in bitter yam and close relatives. This will be useful in global treatments and reductions of diabetes. Well done Pricilla! We are proud of you.
Which outstanding international student are you proud of? Mention their name and work and I would be happy to write about them.
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An interesting research area using transcriptomics in unraveling and understanding biosynthetic pathways of antidiabetic compounds from Discorea dumetorum. Well done Priscilla¡!!!
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Thank you so much Dr Adeniran 😊
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