www.unesa.ac.id
Unesa.ac.id, Surabaya-The Exact Research Student Creativity Program (PKM-RE) team from the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (FMIPA) UNESA chaired by Maftukhatul Faizah successfully passed the 2021 PKM-RE funding. The team carried out a research entitled 'Potential and Bioactivity of Mimi Mintuna (Horshoe) Compound Extract Crab) Local Indonesia as Covid-19 Antivirus Candidate.
The PKM-RE TEAM consists of four people, Maftukhatul Faizah from 2018 Biology Education S-1, Mia Savita from 2018 Biology Education S-1, Elsa Aulia Vebianawati 2019 Biology Education S-1, and Ahmad Misbakhus Sururi Chemistry S-1 , also class of 2019.
Sururi revealed that the proposed research began with the Covid-19 pandemic, which is still endemic and never ending. Plus, the emergence of a new variant that causes many casualties and crises in all sectors.
According to him, the main problem at this time is the lack of public awareness and sensitivity to the impact of this virus, especially on people who have congenital diseases (comorbid). In addition, also because of the high mobility of people between regions and even countries.
Overcoming the onslaught of the virus and its mutations, the government implemented an emergency PPKM policy up to level four and encouraged the public to apply strict health protocols to the accelerated vaccination program. The procurement and availability of vaccines to date has not been comparable to Indonesia's population of 271 million people (BPS 2020).
The Ministry of Health noted that until August 3, 2021, only around 21 million people had received the second dose of the vaccine. The total recipients of the first dose of vaccine are about 48 million people. This means that there are still many who have not received the vaccine while the availability of the vaccine is still limited. From that concern, the PKM-RE FMIPA UNESA team looked for good ways through discussions, research and preliminary studies to explore antivirals from natural ingredients to arrive at the "discovery" of the local Indonesian horseshoe crab extract.
According to them, the horseshoe crab contains many compounds, one of which can be an alternative ingredient as an antiviral. "Hopefully the results will be a drug that can inhibit the effects caused by the Covid-19 infection," said Mia Savita.
This research, continued Mia Savita, is safer and does not cause many harmful side effects. "The results of this temporary research show that the antiviral from mimi mintuna extract has a fairly low potential for side effects. In addition, it is also safer and more effective because it is made from natural ingredients,” he said.
Because it is still in the research stage, it is necessary to continue to study and extract more detailed and valid data. Of course, further research is also needed comprehensively and through a laboratory scale. "Our hope is that this will become an alternative vaccine material and can be part of the treatment material for those infected with Covid-19," said Maftukhatul Faizah.
Maftukhatul Faizah and his colleagues did not expect that the PKM-RE research proposal they submitted could pass and receive funding from the government. “Hopefully this can be part of our dedication and effort from UNESA for Indonesia. Most importantly, this can be a motivation to continue to innovate as a solution for the country,” he hoped. (Madina/zam)
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