Hugong: A Showcase of UPLB's Biomathematics Bee Program

On its 33rd Anniversary Week, SAM-UP celebrated a promising program of the university through its opening exhibit entitled, “Hugong: A Showcase of UPLB’s Biomathematics Bee Program”. The activity’s goal is to enlighten the minds of students about the importance of applied mathematics in the field of biology, focusing on the significance of the correlation between math and biology through the lives of bees.

One of the earliest records of biomathematics can be found on the studies of phyllotaxis (plant patterns) by Schimper, Braun and Bravais dated around 1830 which used geometry and number theory. During the early years the 20th century, applications of probabilities, systems of differential equations, and geometric transformations can be found on studies about the constancy of gene frequency, interaction of predator and prey species, and relation of morphologies of different species.

Nowadays, biomathematics is widely used in biomedical and biotechnology researches on which both theoretical and practical applications of mathematical representations are utilized. The scope of biomathematics ranges from the earthly processes that shapes the ecology of the planet to the smallest details of genetic mappings of different species, paving the way to bio-nanotechnological innovations on the fields of medicine, physiology and neuroscience. Some known names associated to the development of biomathematics were Pythagoras, Fibonacci, Laplace, Einstein, Turing, and Keller amongst many other scientists.

Dubbed as nature’s “most economical builders”, bees are definitely the one to beat when it comes to the fusion of biology and mathematics. The honeycomb, one of the most practical structures around, uses the least amount of wax among any other possible structures according to a 19-page mathematical proof by Thomas Hale. Such skill in optimization is worthy of the title, “most efficient structure in nature”, and the Greek mathematician Pappus would certainly argue with you if you don’t agree.

In graph theory, the “travelling salesman problem”, in which you need to find the shortest distance you can travel while visiting all points, can make mathematicians scratch their heads and puzzle some computers. But according to some researchers in Royal Holloway University in London, bumblebees are the experts on this type of problem. They can traverse the shortest possible path between flowers. Fun fact: they’re the only one in the whole kingdom that are able do it. The advanced knowledge of bees on the practical applications of mathematics makes them the subject of increasing numbers of researches. And certainly, humans have a lot to learn not only from bees but from other organisms as well that may help in the development of more efficient structures that are used in a daily basis.

Programs around the world are being organized to support new studies and promote the importance of biomathematics to the society. The UPLB Biomathematics Program, under the Institute of Mathematical Sciences and Physics (IMSP), is an initiative that led the path for students to provide quantitative solutions to biological problems. Undergraduates under the BS Applied Mathematics program may opt to take Biomathematics as major.