The scientific odyssey of Toto Olivera

On Jan. 16, the University of the Philippines  honored Professor Baldomero “Toto” M. Olivera by conferring upon him the degree of Doctor of Science, honoris causa, in a very special ceremony at the UP Film Center. You can read about it and view photos at http://centennial.up.edu.ph/. I was asked to introduce Toto before he delivered his UP Centennial lecture and this is what I said:

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I have the honor to introduce to you our distinguished speaker. He is a Filipino scientist who was raised and educated in his youth in the Philippines — in this university. He is now a Distinguished Professor of Biology at the University of Utah and last year, he was named 2007 Scientist of the Year by Harvard Foundation as special recognition for his “outstanding achievements and contributions to American science… and for his notable contributions to molecular biology and groundbreaking work with conotoxins.”

Professor Baldomero “Toto” Olivera has distinguished himself as one of the world’s leaders in molluscan biodiversity, toxinology and drug discovery, and neuropharmacology. His work in the last 30 years, supported by the US National Institute of General Medicine Sciences, on peptides produced by venomous Conus snails, has led to the elucidation of key molecular mechanisms that underlie nervous system function.

Because many of us already know of Dr. Olivera’s numerous achievements and awards, today I would rather reflect briefly on how these were realized with certain personal qualities and circumstances of Toto that perhaps some of us do not yet know.

Toto recounts certain critical incidents in his youth that contributed to his success as a scientist.  As an only child living mostly in isolation with his parents, with no neighbors, he had an enormous amount of free time. This led to his fascination with all the creatures that were wandering around in his surroundings. It also gave him time to read a lot of books. Among Nature’s wonders, he was most intrigued with the beauty — the diverse shapes and intricate colors and patterns — of seashells. Early in life, he became an avid shell collector, honing his keen, meticulous power of observation. And thus, his understanding of snail morphology, taxonomy, biology and behavior became almost intuitive later in his scientific life.  

In the second grade, his teacher taught him to perform a simple solubility experiment and so he went around testing everything he could get hold of to see if it were soluble in water or not. For him it was discovery, and the sense of power that it was something he could determine himself, something that he didn’t know before, he says, is one reason he is a scientist today.

The third and most important scientific influence in his life was a dedicated high school teacher in chemistry and zoology, the late Dolly Hernandez of UP, who recognized his unique talents and inspired and guided him toward a career in science.

It is interesting to note that Toto comes from a family known for outstanding intellects and talents, but none in his family other than Toto had chosen a life in science. Toto is a standout in his family. On the other hand, Toto himself is a person of multiple, scholarly interests. It is the same kind of thoroughness and fascination in science that he shares with his family in other fields of the humanities — the arts (including the culinary arts), music, history, geography, paleontology, archeology, the records of antiquity — as they reflect human culture and psychology. And among his family, it is his wife Lulu who is his most kindred spirit, his most enthusiastic and knowledgeable partner in all these happy pursuits.  

Not much is said now about the earliest scientific work of Toto Olivera; understandably — when this is compared with his voluminous work on the Conus snails. But his early work gives us good insight into how Toto views the natural world and how he is continuing his lifelong scientific journey.

When Toto decided to major in chemistry at the UP, he clearly wanted to understand the fundamental, molecular nature of things. He excelled in chemistry and graduated summa cum laude and valedictorian of the UP Class of 1960. Sometime after, he became a Fullbright scholar and pursued a PhD in Biochemistry at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, under the mentorship of Professor Norman Davidson. At Caltech, Toto published his first papers on the biophysical properties and topology of DNA — the revolutionary discovery of the previous decade. His interest in DNA grew into DNA function, particularly the mechanism of DNA replication, as he pursued his postdoctoral studies at Stanford University under Professor Robert Lehman. Those who really know Toto know that he is equally famous for being the first scientist to isolate the nucleotide joining enzyme DNA ligase from the bacterium E. coli. This scientific discovery is the basis for a component of the molecular cloning technique that is essential in molecular biology and biotechnology today.

It was with strong idealism and nationalism that Toto Olivera returned to the Philippines after his postdoctoral studies in 1968. He was determined to teach biochemistry and establish a good research laboratory at the UP College of Medicine. But sadly realizing that the kind of research he did in the United States would not be possible in a Philippine setting, due to limited resources, he revived his natural interest in the Philippine seashells of his youth and made this the object of what has turned out to be an intense, lifelong scientific journey with a distinctly Filipino flavor.

The rest we know is history. Having gone through the natural exercises in empiricism in his childhood and the training in rigorous experimentation as a young scientist, Toto Olivera today finds himself an international scientific leader who is creating and rationalizing new paradigms of the way Nature works, of how life has evolved, through millions of years, based on the scientific evidence that he has accumulated on the megadiverse molluscs — where their biodiversity and chemical diversity are a reflection of the tremendous success of their biological adaptation and survival in the marine environment.

Indeed, the Holy Grail of science is still undeniably the understanding of the most enigmatic and complex biological system that exists — the human brain. Its study represents the most daunting and challenging of all scientific endeavors. Toto Olivera has made us realize that we can pry into the workings of the human brain by studying the snails. That in fact, across species and groups of animals, many of the underlying, unifying principles of life — the biomolecular mechanisms and strategies for survival — are extremely conserved. Others would perceive the venomous snails as lowly, unintelligent creatures — but they are deceived. Toto Olivera through his work has scaled the similarities and differences between human and snail intelligence! And these basic scientific discoveries have led to the discovery and development of neuroactive compounds that would benefit mankind. In recognition of his achievements in marine toxinology and neuropharmacology, Toto was awarded Most Outstanding Alumnus of Caltech in 2002.

To this day, Toto remains humble and in awe of the wonders of Nature. He is first and foremost a naturalist, a biologist, a taxonomist and ecologist. Appreciation of marine biodiversity has led him to embark on a social mission to educate our youth and rural folk about our marine treasures which are the richest on this planet. In 2006, he was named Professor of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and this award has allowed him to pursue his projects on biodiversity education and conservation in our country. 

I recall from Lulu that Toto’s mother Carolina Marquez Olivera would spend a lot of time visiting the UP Oblation because she loved the UP. She wanted her son to be with the UP. But Toto never really left the UP. He has been coming home at least twice a year in the last 30 years, working with research collaborators, mentoring graduate students and quietly supporting research at the UP.

It is thus fitting that we have honored this outstanding UP alumnus during UP’s Centennial celebration. He serves as inspiration to us Filipinos, especially our youth. Ladies and Gentlemen, let us all welcome Dr. Toto Olivera who will give his talk entitled “From Cone Snail Venoms to Drugs: The Scientific Odyssey of a UP Graduate.” Thank you.

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Gisela Padilla-Concepcion is a professor at the UP Marine Science Institute where she teaches graduate courses and conducts research on compounds from marine invertebrate organisms, e.g., sponges, ascidians and snails, and from marine microorganisms — to explore their potential as anticancer, anti-infective, immunosuppressant and anti-pain agents. She is also involved in the development of vaccines for flu and dengue. E-mail her at [email protected].