16 Year-Old Filipina Scientist Found A Possible Cure to Diabetes using the Aratiles Plant

Maria Isabel Layson, 16 years old, from Iloilo National High School, had found a possible cure to type 2 diabetes. She had discovered that the Jamaican cherry plant (aratiles) could cure the said disease.

The aratiles plant grows just about anywhere on any backyard or just along the sides of the road in Iloilo City. It is greatly neglected for its important uses. Maria Isabel studied the anti-oxidant and anti-diabetic properties of the aratiles plant.





There was a video posted online by Layson and she said there that her inspiration for conducting the study is because of the several generations of her family that had faced death due to diabetes.

She expects that her research would inspire people to the creation and development of a low-cost alternative cure for diabetes and anti-diabetic supplements.




Maria Isabel said that it is not the end of her research. She stated that her research will develop into more specific compounds and cure other diseases.

Her research won as the Best Individual Research in Life Science during the Deped’s 2019 National Science and Technology.

With six other entries, her research also took part in representing the Philippines during the 2019 International Engineering Fair in Arizona in the United States of America last month.

She is one of the first batches of students to receive a Gokongwei Brothers Foundation Young Scientist Award.

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