Dolores A. Ramirez (born September 20, 1931) is a Filipino geneticist. She specializes in

plant breeding Plant breeding is the science of changing the traits of plants in order to produce desired characteristics. It is used to improve the quality of plant products for use by humans and animals. The goals of plant breeding are to produce crop varie ...

and plant

cytogenetics Cytogenetics is essentially a branch of genetics, but is also a part of cell biology/cytology (a subdivision of human anatomy), that is concerned with how the chromosomes relate to cell behaviour, particularly to their behaviour during mitosis an ...

. She was named a

National Scientist of the Philippines The Order of National Scientists of the Philippines ( Tagalog: ''Orden ng mga Pambansang Alagad ng Agham ng Pilipinas''), abbreviated as ONS, is the highest award accorded to Filipino scientists by the Philippine government. Members of the order ...

in 1998.

Early life and education

Dolores A. Ramirez was born on September 20, 1931, in

Calamba, Laguna Calamba, officially the City of Calamba (), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, component city in the Provinces of the Philippines, province of Laguna (province), Laguna, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a popu ...

, to Leonor Altoveros and Augusto U. Ramirez. She was the oldest of eight children and her father died when she was young. She graduated from Laguna Institute (now Laguna College of Business and Arts) in 1952 with a First Honorable Mention award. She attended the

University of the Philippines Los Baños The University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB; ), also referred to as UP Los Baños or colloquially as Elbi (), is a public research university primarily located in the towns of Los Baños and Bay in the province of Laguna, some 65 kilo ...

, earning a bachelor of science in agriculture, ''magna cum laude'', in 1956. Her thesis, under Dioscoro L. Umali, concerned the nature of

lodging Lodging refers to the use of a short-term dwelling, usually by renting the living space or sometimes through some other arrangement. People who travel and stay away from home for more than a day need lodging for sleep, rest, food, safety, shel ...

in rice. She received a Rockefeller Foundation scholarship and attended the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

in the United States. She studied under cytogeneticist Charles Burnham and earned her MSc in

in 1958. She continued on to

Purdue University Purdue University is a Public university#United States, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded ...

, studying under geneticist Mark L. Tomes. She received her PhD in

biochemical genetics Molecular biology is a branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecular basis of biological activity in and between cells, including biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactions. Though cells and other microscopic ...

in 1963, minoring in

plant pathology Plant pathology or phytopathology is the scientific study of plant diseases caused by pathogens (infectious organisms) and environmental conditions (physiological factors). Plant pathology involves the study of pathogen identification, disease ...

and

plant physiology Plant physiology is a subdiscipline of botany concerned with the functioning, or physiology, of plants. Plant physiologists study fundamental processes of plants, such as photosynthesis, respiration, plant nutrition, plant hormone functions, tr ...

Career

After Ramirez completed her PhD, she returned to the University of the Philippines where she conducted research into the breeding and cytogenetics of plants. She was hired by the College of Agriculture of the University of the Philippines Los Baños as an assistant professor in 1964. She attained the position of associate professor in 1969 and full professor in 1974. She was named a full University Professor in 1995. Much of Ramirez's research has been into plants important to

agriculture in the Philippines Agriculture in the Philippines is a major sector of the economy of the Philippines, economy, ranking third among the sectors in 2022 behind only Services and Industry. Its outputs include staples like rice and corn, but also export crops such ...

. She researched the genetic basis of chemical resistance factors of ''

Cercospora ''Cercospora'' is a genus of ascomycete fungi. Most species have no known sexual stage, and when the sexual stage is identified, it is in the genus '' Mycosphaerella''. Most species of this genus cause plant diseases, and form leaf spots. It is ...

'', which causes the formation of

leaf spot A leaf spot is a limited, discoloured, diseased area of a leaf that is caused by fungal, bacterial or viral plant diseases, or by injuries from nematodes, insects, environmental factors, toxicity or herbicides. These discoloured spots or lesions ...

s in

mung bean The mung bean or green gram (''Vigna radiata'') is a plant species in the legume family.Brief Introduction of Mung Bean. Vigna Radiata Extract Green Mung Bean Extract Powder Phaseolus aureus Roxb Vigna radiata L R Wilczek. MDidea-Extracts P ...

s. She also studied the cytogenetics of hybrids of rice, tracing the cause of sterility from crosses with wild strains. Her plant research led to improved varieties of fruit, sugarcane, rice, coconut, and ornamentals. She conducted research with Evelyn Mae Tecson-Mendoza on how

macapuno Macapuno, also called coconut sport, is a naturally occurring coconut cultivar that has an abnormal development of the endosperm. The result of this abnormal development is a soft translucent jelly-like flesh that fills almost the entire central ...

coconut genes that characterize endosperm cell walls are affected by high

galactomannan Galactomannans are polysaccharides consisting of a mannose backbone with galactose side groups, more specifically, a (1-4)-linked beta-D-mannopyranose backbone with branchpoints from their 6-positions linked to alpha-D-galactose, (i.e. 1-6-linked ...

metabolism. Ramirez served as an associate editor of the ''Philippine Journal of Crop Science'' and the ''Philippine Phytopathological Journal''. She was the editor-in-chief of ''The Philippine Agriculturist'' for 10 years. She served on the Board of Trustees of the

International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (known – even in English – by its Spanish acronym CIMMYT for ''Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo'') is a non-profit research-for-development organization that develops ...

and held the Professorial Chair for Genetics of the

Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture SEARCA or the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture is one of the oldest among 26 specialist institutions of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO). Founded on 27 November 1966, ...

(SEARCA) from 1974 to 1976. In August 2023, she was featured on the cover of Vogue Philippines.

Awards and honours

(1998) * A hybrid of ''

Hibiscus rosa-sinensis ''Hibiscus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the Malva, mallow family, Malvaceae. The genus is quite large, comprising List of Hibiscus species, several hundred species that are Native plant, native to warm temperate, Subtropics, subtropical ...

'' was named for her in 2000, ''Hibiscus rosa-sinensis'' 'Dolores A. Ramirez'.

Selected publications

* * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramirez, Dolores 1931 births Living people Filipino geneticists National Scientists of the Philippines University of the Philippines alumni University of Minnesota alumni Purdue University alumni People from Laguna (province) People from Calamba, Laguna Women geneticists