BioCheck: Myth-Busting Podcast About Biotechnology

In response to these challenges, ISAAA Inc. partnered with students from the College of Development Communication (CDC) at the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) to launch a podcast-based engagement initiative, titled BioCheck: Myth-Busting Podcast About Biotechnology, aimed at bringing science closer to people through conversation, storytelling, and myth-busting.

The podcast series consists of eight episodes uploaded to ISAAA’s YouTube channel and will be released weekly across ISAAA’s social media platforms. Every episode is delivered in conversational Taglish (Filipino-English) and tackles FAQs, common misconceptions, and audience concerns gathered through engagement activities. The topics per episode are as follows:

1. Natural ba ang biotechnology?
2. Para kanino ba ang biotech?
3. Nakakatulong ba ang GM crops sa mga magsasaka?
4. Bakit may pag-aalinlangan sa biotech?
5. Nagbibigay ba ng sakit ang GMOs?
6. Nakakasira ba ng kalikasan ang GMOs?
7. Delikado ba ang field trials ng GM crops?
8. Kaya bang palitan ng organic farming ang biotech?

This initiative signals a shift in how science is communicated. By integrating audience questions into content creation, ISAAA and UPLB CDC students are co-creating knowledge spaces where science moves beyond explanation and into shared understanding and dialogue.

This podcast series is developed by DEVC 154 (Communicating Science for Development) students, namely Carl Bryan Bajao, Johnvic Berbon, John Angelo Comia, Gweneth Dizon, and Ma. Beatrice Sophia Villan, under the supervision of Asst. Prof. Reianne M. Quilloy. These podcast episodes have been pretested among UPLB students and ISAAA Inc. staff members.