Monday through Tuesday, 20–21 April 2026, Food Technology Study Program students of Institut Teknologi Sumatera attended a training activity in the field of molecular biology as part of efforts to improve academic competence. This activity was attended by two students from the 2022 generation, namely Hafizh Nabil Izzuddin and Sakinah Az-zahra Batubara, accompanied by Lecturers Syahrizal Nasution, S.Pt., M.Si. and Yosi Syafitri, S.Pt., M.Si. The training was held at the Infectious Diseases and Immunology Research Center (IDIRC), IMERI Faculty of Medicine of Universitas Indonesia, with assistance from the IMERI representative, Wisnu Tafroji, S.Si., M.Biomed.
This activity is part of the continuation of research that began in 2024 by the Study Program Food Technology under the leadership of Syahrizal Nasution. The research focuses on the isolation and characterization of indigenous lactic acid bacteria from pineapple as a candidate probiotic for functional food based on fermentation of milk and pineapple from Lampung. In its development, this research was strengthened by 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis to support innovation in the field of functional food.
During the training, students received material on basic molecular biology techniques that are widely used in food microbiology analysis. The material provided included basic concepts of Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), electrophoresis techniques, and DNA sequencing as a molecular analysis method.
In the practicum session, participants were directly involved in various laboratory work stages, starting from preparation of the master mix, PCR process, to making agarose gel and carrying out electrophoresis. In addition, students were also trained to analyze electrophoresis results to ensure the success of the DNA amplification process.
The next activity focuses on processing the sequence data results, including analysis of the electrophoregram and construction of the phylogenetic tree to examine kinship relationships between samples based on the DNA sequence obtained.
The series of activities was closed with an interactive discussion session that provided an opportunity for participants to deepen their understanding and clarify various technical obstacles they faced during the training.
Editor: Afrida Nurwulan
