Therapeutic potential found in Brunei's national flower bunga simpur

BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN (Borneo Bulletin/Asia News Network): Researchers from the Institute for Biodiversity and Environmental Research (IBER) and the Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) Faculty of Science, and SingHealth Duke-NUS Institute of Biodiversity Medicine (BD-MED), in a world’s first, fully mapped the genome of the sultanate’s national flower bunga simpur (dillenia suffruticosa) and found potential therapeutic properties, encompassing anti-cancer capabilities.

The findings were shared during a press conference yesterday on the bunga simpur genome project chaired by UBD Vice-Chancellor Dr Hazri Kifle with the project’s researchers.