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Besides important
articles and recent advances in the field of biotechnology, we shall
publish news of participation of Bangladeshi Biotechnologists in
important meetings, conferences as a speaker or an instructor in a
seminar or workshop. The news may also relate to any new appointment which
a Bangladeshi biotechnologist has accepted. Members are requested to send
in such pieces of information for posting in the home page at asislam24@gmail.com or abidur@iwate-u.ac.jp. A glowing tribute to Late Professor H. K Yusuf by Dr. Ashraf Ahmed Dhaka 6th Jan, '10. Dr. Ashraf has written an excellent short scientific write up about Late Harun. The article has appeared in the 5th January issue of the Daily Star. The article begins as follows: "Our failure to recall a memory of the past may be related to a Japanese demonstration of brain's newborn cell function, reported on last November 13. Incidentally two days earlier, Bangladesh lost one of her best scientists, Professor Harun Kader Mohammad Yusuf, an internationally recognized authority of human brain's biochemistry. It is therefore worth recalling his contributions before discussing the new findings. Harun bhai worked out the detailed bio-molecular composition of our brain, and effect of malnutrition on its development. Until his untimely death, he was Chairman of the Bangladesh National Nutritional Council." Please read the whole story by clicking here. Comments by Tanveer
Tazib
Day One Symposium:
Cancer and Developmental Biology: Latest Biochemical
Adv. Day Two Symposium:
Cancer and Developmental Biology:
Dhaka Jan. 7, '10. GNOBB has the pleasure of
posting the Annual Report of the Dhaka University Microbiologists
Alumni Association as published in the form of an interesting
article entitled, Remarks by
Dr. Abul K. Azad, Executive VP, DUMAA about GNOBB following the
posting of the above news in the GNOBB website, "On
behalf of DUMAA EC, I render my heart-felt gratitude and sincere thanks to
you and to your organization which is doing an outstanding job for
worldwide networking of Bangladeshi biotechnologists on a fast
communication platform." Such appreciation builds cementing bond between
organizations with similar objectives, namely, serving the biotech
community. Heartiest Congratulations to Dr. Abidur Rahman and his Lab Associates
Dhaka, the 4th Jan.,09. We feel very happy
to announce that that a research paper entitled,
"Auxin
Response in Arabidopsis under Cold Stress: Underlying Mechanisms
by Dr. Abidur Rahman's lab has
appeared online in the recent "Plant Cell" issue. This is an advanced
online version of the paper which will appear in the December issue of
the journal. As you all know it is a unique honor to get a paper
published in prestigious journals such as "Plant Cell" which ranks as
one of the leading journals in the Biological field. Wish you all a Happy and Prosperous New Year.
_______________________________ Dhaka
the 28th December, ’09.
Professor Julian Schroeder and colleagues at the
University
of California in San Diego reported that in Arabidopsis that the
two genes called βCA1
and βCA4 control the synthesis of carbonic anhydrases, that split
CO2 into bicarbonate and protons. They further showed that
Arabidopsis mutants lacking
the above two carbonic anhydrase genes
fail to
utilize the atmospheric CO2 efficiently. On the other hand,
over-expression of these two genes increases water use efficiency. They
have further shown that the plants that overexpress these genes show
increased water use efficiency and that these two genes can be turned on
while taking in CO2 for photosynthesis. The discovery of these two genes
opens up the possibility of bioengineering crops that would be more
drought tolerant by regulating the stomatal pores which allow water vapor
escape excessively making plants more vulnerable to any water shortage.
The results were published in Nature Cell Biology online in its 13th
December issue. 2
Genes ILI1 and IBH1 act antagonistic to control growth of diverse TAXA
"In plants, steroid levels
reflect environmental and internal signals and control many processes.
Steroid hormones called C start their action on the surface of the cell
and, through a molecular relay, send signals into the cell's nucleus to
turn on or off specific genes, particularly those that are critical to
regulating plant growth and development." Dhaka
the 15th Dec. ’09.
The remarks by Begum Matia Choudhary, Minister for Agriculture, GoB
will be welcome by the proponents of GM Crops. She declared at the 24th
Foundation Day of SAARC held recently that the Government would support
research and development activities on GM crops if any of the crops
developed using this modern technique proves to enhance crop production
and alleviate chronic food crisis in
Bangladesh.
Countering the opposition by GM activists she said the Government is open
minded in the use of suitable GM crops provided they benefit the farmers
and pass all the safety tests to human health hazards. She said that it is
high time that concerned scientists and the Institutes to strengthen their
research efforts to develop disease, salinity and drought tolerant crops
for farmers' use. The Minister outlined her Government's oncoming 5-year
plan that will facilitate sustainable agricultural development.
Comments
on the Natl Biotech Policy by Dr A. Azad now at Oxford University
Dhaka, 12th Dec.'09 Good to know all
about NIB. Several years before i went through the policy of NIB.
Although it's good to have a policy but so far i remember some of them
are highly ambitious. In our country it is always difficult to do
something. As you can see it took 16 years to get cabinet approval. It
is better to start with something possible and hopefully at some point
it will take a spin. I can see some of the priority area of research
from your list at GNOBB page. I would like to add one more area for
consideration. This is the production of various Antibody against
various human protein related to Cancer. In UK, around Cambridge area
there are several Biotech company whose sole business is the production
of Antibody. Germany and Belgium, are two leading countries in these
areas. Recently i developed an antibody against one of my protein from a
company in Germany at a cost of £2000. Antibodies are very expensive and
Scientist are often to buy it from a company for their research. It is
one of the highly consumable stuff. If NIB can do it successfully I am
pretty sure that it will open a new window for the country in Biotech
sector.
____________________ An urgent appeal to members of GNOBB and its well wishers
Dhaka, 6th of December '09, We are renewing our appeal
to all GNOBB members and its well wishers to spare a few precious moments
from their busy schedule to write their comments about the National
Biotechnology Policy at their earliest convenience. Once the enactment of
NIB policy is finalized by the Parliament it will be difficult to change
any clause(s) because of the long procedure. We will be glad to edit
comments of any author if he/she so desires because of time
constraint. To see
previous comments. A Good News for the J. BAPTC&B ever since the Introduction of Online Submission of Articles Dhaka, 6th December '09. There
is a piece of good news for the J. BAPTC&B ever since they introduced
a new feature, namely, Online Submission of Articles. They have
received more than 60 articles in addition to three that
have been published online ahead of print. There are more or more
articles on molecular biology indicating among BAPTC&B members their
ever increasing interest in different facets of biotechnology. GNOBB
Coordinator takes the opportunity of inviting GNOBB members to take this
opportunity of writing research/review articles covering their research
areas. Using this forum a similar appeal was made to GNOBB members
but hardly with any
effect. Comments by Professor Ahmed
A. Azad
Dhaka, 3rd December'09 "With a profound
sense of pleasure, we post the comments made by Professor
Ahmed Azad - the champion who has been spearheading the campaign for the
enactment of NIB act by the Parliament granting it autonomy, sine qua non
for all round development of an institute. It's Prof. Azad who
knew Architect Yeafesh Osman the SM MoSICT
personally that the whole machinery moved fast culminating in the passage
of the act by the Cabinet. The coordinator sincerely believes that other
members will come forward with their valuable comments to make the
act comprehensive in all respects. Now it is the time to act if you
want NCBT a worthwhile world class organization. Press here for Prof Azad's
comments.
Eid Greetings to all the GNOBB members and well-wishers
This Eid brings to the Members a very important message - the message of sacrifice which we can all offer by a giving a little bit of our time if not every week, at least a month through your suggestions or through your write-ups to enrich GNOBB homepage. We have come a long way in promoting the cause of biotechnology in our country. The biotechnology policy act is no longer sitting in the desk of an officer in the Ministry but has received the blessings of the cabinet and before long it will be an act of the Parliament. Now is the time when you can write letters to the Ministry giving your suggestions as to the future course of action which the Ministry and NIB should follow in order to fulfill our cherished dream. GNOBB will be pleased to publish your suggestions and forward them to the SM, MoSICT and pursue them. ________________________________________________________________________
New Facilities at the Centre of Excellence at DU and the Scope of Joint Supervision between any Faculty and COE
The following new facilities for DNA sequencing have been added at the Centre of Excellence, University of Dhaka. Charges are nominal which include cost of consumables, overhead charges. The new facilities available are:
In addition any faculty and/or research institution may approach COE for joint undertaking of research on condition that in any future publication assistance of COE scientist member is acknowledged with authorship where applicable ______________________________________________________________________
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7th Nov, '09 With a deep sense of concern for Professor H.K.M. Yusuf at the news of his recent illness, we all join in fervent prayer to the merciful Allah to grant him complete recovery from his present condition. It may be mentioned that Prof. Harun has been a brilliant student and a very successful research worker and a very brilliant teacher. All his students past and present love him and hold him in a high respect for his dedication to his noble profession.
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| Dhaka, 24th Oct '09 Bacteriophages or phages, which are bacterial viruses, function as key elements in promoting horizontal gene transfer (HGT) between bacteria. The HGT is a major mechanism involved in bacterial evolution. In the post genome era, scientists have identified multiple prophages, carrying wide range of virulence genes in sequenced bacterial genome.The functional significance of these prophage sequences was unknown and widely regarded as merely genetic vestiges.In a breakthrough article, published in PLoS PATHOGENS , Dr. Md Asadulghani of Miyazaki University (Currently at ICDDR,B) and colleagues show that many of the defective O157 | |
| prophages are inducible and released from the O157 cells as particulate DNA and can be transferred to other E.coli strains. Their results also suggested that these prophages have high potential to disseminate virulence determinants. Through this study, authors formulate a novel concept of inter-prophage interactions in defective prophage communities. For interested readers, here is the link of the article | |
_________________________________________________________________
Congratulation for participation in rice genetics
Symposium
| Prof Zeba Seraj | Mr. Sazzadur Rahman | Ms. Sharmin Jahan | Ms. Sabrina M. Elias | |
Dhaka, 23rd Oct, ’09, GNOBB heartily congratulate the three young researchers Mr. Sazzadur Rahman, Ms. Sharmin Jahan and Ms. Sabrina Moriom Elias from the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, DU on their being nominated to attend the forthcoming 6th International Rice Genetics Symposium (RG6) and 7th International Symposium on Rice Functional Genomics, and present their posters therein. Mr Sazzad is PhD student and Sharmin and Sabrina are research associates at the Plant Biotechnology Lab of Prof. Zeba I. Seraj whom the young scientists are accompanying to the above International Meet. Their abstracts are based on marker assisted breeding of salt tolerant rice taxa, transformation techniques for conferring salt tolerance and evolutionary genomics in Bangladeshi rice landraces. The Symposium will be held at Manila Hotel, the Philippines from 16th to 19th November, 2009. The four-day event will cover the rapid advances in rice genomics and its potential benefits to food security and the international rice industry as well as will showcase the latest developments in the field, including research on breeding, mapping of genes and quantitative trait loci, identification and cloning of candidate genes for biotic and abiotic stresses, gene expression, and genomic databases and mutant induction for functional genomics. GNOBB wish them Godspeed.
_____________________________________________
Seminar
on "Bioinformatics: Opportunities for Bangladesh"
Dhaka the 16th of Oct., ’09, The Bangladesh Society for Bioinformatics invites papers and posters for presentation at a one-day Seminar on "Bioinformatics: Opportunities for Bangladesh" to be held on 21 November 2009 at the Dhaka University Centre for Advanced Research in Physical, Chemical, Biological & Pharmaceutical Sciences at 10:00 a.m. Abstracts should be sent electronically by 31 October 2009 to the following email address: secretary@bsbbd.org Furthermore, the secretary informs that the annual general meeting of the society will be held on the same day at 3 pm. Pls click here for details. __________________________________________________
Telomeres of the same sequence are of
universal occurrence
Dhaka the 9th of Oct., ’09. The current year’s Nobel Prize in medicine was awarded to three USA Professors, Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Carol W. Greider and Jack W. Szostak for their outstanding discovery on "how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase". The telomeres are like the caps on the chromosome ends for their protection.
It’s known since mid-80's of the last century that telomerase, an
enzyme is involved in telomere repair. Cell biologists also observed that
cancer chromosomes are immortal, while normal ones are not. The causes
were soon known that there is no wear and tear in fast replicating cancer
chromosomes while the
telomeric ends of a normal chromosome are worn
out.
When studying the chromosomes of Tetrahymena, a unicellular ciliate organism, Elizabeth Blackburn identified in it a RNA sequence that was repeated several times together with a specific protein at the ends of each chromosome. What was astonishing that the same telomeric DNA sequence of Tetrahymena, namely,the CCCCAA sequence were found to protect chromosomes of yeast which is phylogenetically completely unrelated, thereby showing the existence of a previously unrecognized fundamental mechanism. Read More ____________________________________________
Current status of the Pharmaceutical industry in Bangladesh.
Dhaka the 5th of Oct., ’09. Within a span of a few days Professor Ahmed Azad has written another important article captioned, “Current status of the Pharmaceutical industry in Bangladesh." He describes about immense potentialities for a research-oriented pharmaceuticals industry in Bangladesh. The article points out and rightly so, that Pharmaceutical Industry and new generation vaccines such as those manufactured by Incepta are likely to capture the world market. He further points out that “the global market for biopharmaceuticals, currently valued at US $48 billion, has been growing at an annual compound growth rate of 19% since 2004 ” and by 2020 the world revenue from this industry may garner a total of US $100 billion.
Prof Azad points out that there are certain advantages of Bangladesh over other LDCs in that the country may be able to reap such as incurring low cost for drug testing on patients utilizing the facilities available at the ICDDR, B and BIRDEM. He also cautions that there must be rigorous control of the quality to stop once and for all the recurrence of sale of toxic drugs under the generic name of paracetamol. He makes a clarion call to the Government to play a catalytic role to bring under one umbrella - academia, pharmaceutical industries, the private sector so that there is a better cooperation and coordination between them. He points out that some of the regions in BD such as the Chittagng Hill Tracts and the Sunderbans are still unexplored and may contain valuable plants yielding drugs of far reaching consequences. Once infrastructure is further developed it will pave the way of rapid drug development in the country thereby contributing to one of the major exporting items. Read the article ___________________________________________________________________________
"Modernizing Food
Production" - Another interesting article in the Daily Star by Prof. A.
Azad
Dhaka 4th Oct., 2009. The prolific writer
helping to promote Biotechnology in BD has recently published another
article entitled
"Modernizing Food Production" in DS. Professor Azad
has emphasized on the urgent need for the formation of "a
parliamentary committee for food, health, energy and environmental
security that could oversee the activities of a new department" which he
calls, the Department of "Advanced Studies, Research Applications
and Technology Transfer." Stating the function and activity of this
New Department, Prof. Azad says it "could provide administrative support
to the NIB (National Institute of Biotechnology) and other national
institutes for ICT, energy and climate change, and university research
centers involved in research on food security and other areas of national
priority." GNOBB urge that members who serve as our 'think
tanks'
make their comments on this vital issue of food security which
we may be able to include in our discussion with the State Minister,
MoSICT and the Chairman Parliamentary Standing Committee SI&CT
due to take place shortly within this week. Read the whole
article.
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GNOBB has entered the 5th Year since its Launching in October, 2005
GNOBB has entered the Fifth Year since its Launching in
2005
2nd Oct. 2009. It has been over Four Years since the launching of
the web-based organization, GNOBB. Now we are running 5th year. From
merely a few members the number has risen over 360, an impressive progress
indeed from the point of view of membership strength.
But now most of
us feel that the Website needs a thorough change in its outlook and user
friendliness with a number of dynamic features which characterize any
modern attractive website. We consider that the reason why the website is
under-utilized is because it has been so far unable to live up to the
challenge what the modern CT has to offer.
Some of the features we
would like to introduce subject to your approval are: a) to set apart a
space next to postings where members can enter their comments if they so
desire; b) they can update their CV; c) provide the facility for
online payment both from outside and inside Bangladesh. May we crave the
indulgence of your suggestions to improve the website and make it more
user-friendly?
With this end in view a number of professional web
designers have been approached. The minimum charges to face uplift the
site with dynamic features will cost somewhere between Tk. 10-15 K.
On behalf of this popular web-based organization, may we appeal to the
members particularly to those who have been with us for quite sometime to
pay their yearly dues of $10 each per year? We know $10 is a small sum of
money and unless repeatedly reminded members tend to forget to clear their
dues. Now that we urgently require funds, it will be all right if you can
pay for the current year and the remaining sum when you can make
it.
Looking forward to hearing from you favorably.
GNOBB
Coordinator
__________________________________________________
Bijoya Greetings
Dhaka the 27th Sept.’09. On the festive occasion of Durga Puja GNOBB offer their heartiest greetings to the members and hope that the whole year brings peace and prosperity to you and your family.
RV 144 AIDS Vaccine proved 31% effective against HIV infection
Dhaka the 27th Sept.’09. A breakthrough in two decades has been achieved in the development of AIDS vaccine. A joint project by the Ministry of Health, Thailand and US Army launched six years ago on the development of vaccine against HIV part has yielded results of far-reaching consequence. Among 16,000 volunteers half was given the vaccine and half served as placebo. The vaccine proved effective against 31% patients. The WHO called the results of the trial a significant advance in preventing the occurrence of this scourge which takes a toll of some 2 million people annually in the planet. What is most interesting of this trial is none of the previously tried vaccines, ALVAC from France and AIDSVAX by itself is effective but when combined and administered in two dosages – first ALVAC followed by AIDSVAX as a “booster” they prevent the attack of HIV to 31% of the volunteers tested on a large scale trial ever conducted. It is heartening to note that some Asian countries are in forefront of medical research,
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Dhaka the 27th Sept., 09. The September issue of Trends in Plant Science publishes a review article entitled Parental memories shape seeds jointly by Fred Berger at the Dept of Biol. Sciences at the National University of Singapore and GNOBB member, Dr. Abed Chaudhury now at VitaGrain, Singapore. Arabidopsis is the first example of genetic imprinting reported toward the end of twentieth century. Chromosomal imprints constitute a phenomenon that may be seen both in somatic and reproductive cells.
Mendelian ratio does not apply in the determination of inheritance pattern. The alteration can be imposed through the modification of chromosomal proteins or by the modification of chromosomal DNA,
As many as sixteen imprinted genes resident in the endosperm that provide nutrition to the developing embryo have since been discovered in maize and Arabidopsis. In the imprinting process there is mainly histone methylation resulting in the silencing of transcription.
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| Heartiest Eid Greetings to All GNOBB Members, Well wishers
Dhaka 17th September, '09. Tonight is the Holy
Shabe-Qad'r night depending on the sighting of the moon there are 3
or 4 more days left for the celebration of the great festival of the
Muslim World - Eid-ul-Fitr. |
their support will come unreservedly for the promotion and
development of this emerging science whose advancement is galloping faster
than we can think of.
Let us all pledge on this happy occasion that we
all - local and NRB's join hands in our endeavor to make this science
internationally competitive. One of our goals is to make this website more
user-friendly and versatile - a task which urgently requires both academic
and financial support.
Quite a number of members have not updated
their personal page including their most recent email addresses. Pl favor
us with the updated information of yourself and personal subscription
which is only $10 or an equivalent amount in Bangladesh currency. Eid
Mubarak.
GNBB Coordinator
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Borlaug's Help is gratefully acknowledged by
Bangladesh in the country's attaining food Safety
Dhaka,
the 15th Sept., 09. Further to the news published recently on the passing
away of Nobel Prize Winner Norman E. Borlaug, GNOBB and the community of
scientists feel honored to have been associated with the late great soul
on several occasions. Borlaug was the first foreign Honorary Fellow of
Bangladesh Academy of Sciences (BAS) that conferred on him Fellowship for
his outstanding contribution towards peace by banishing hunger from the
famine affected areas of developing countries.
In 2005 Professor Zeba
I. Seraj at the Department of Biochemistry and Mol. Biol.DU received
Borlaug Fellowship in a simple ceremony held in Washington D.C. Being
invited as an invited guest, GNOBB Coordinator, Prof. A. S. Islam called
on him in early 1990s at CIMMYT, Mexico. Late Sufi Mohiuddin at BARI, to
whom the credit goes of introducing a number of HYV wheat varieties in BD.
was a close associate of Borlaug and worked under him for a number of
years at CIMMYT and was his favorite student and colleague
Till his
last days Borlaug was active in his research work on wheat and guiding
others in various facets of wheat breeding.
____________________________________________
| Nobel Prize Winner in Peace Norman Borlaug Passes away |
Dhaka, 13th Sept., 09. The great Plant Breeder Nobel
Prize winner in Peace and the world renowned Agricultural scientist passed
away in Texas at the age of 95. He is regarded as the father of green
revolution which increased the yield of bread wheat to an unprecedented
level. He joined CIMMYT (the International Wheat and Maize Research
Institute) in Mexico as its first DG – a prestigious appointment offered
to him by CGIAR (Consultative Group of International Agricultural
Research). During his tenure, Mexico turned into from a wheat deficit
country to a wheat exporting one.
Wheat Plant breeders were looking
for a gene that will allow yield increase by application of heavy dosage
of fertilizers without concomitant increase in plant height. In other
words, Borlaug and his associates developed lodge resistant wheat
varieties by dwarfing the plant height through introduction of Rht
(reduced height) genes from the Japanese wheat variety Norin 10 (source of
Rht1 and Rht2 genes). Many Asian countries such as India and Pakistan were
immensely benefited by his research. The hungry populations in these
countries were saved from starvation. The International Rice Research
Institute at Los Banos in the Philippines adopted this principle, namely
introduction of dwarf gene in rice varieties evolving HYVs. Borlaug helped
more people than anyone else in Human history and will be remembered by
the hungry people of the world. May his soul rest in peace.
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| Three appointments in GEB, Dhaka University |
Dhaka Sep. 9, 2009. GNOBB have the pleasure in
announcing that recently there have been appointments of three lecturers
in the Department of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Dhaka
University. They are: Mustak Ibn Ayub, SM Mahbubur
Rashid and Salim Ahmed, brilliant students of the department having
obtained first class throughout their career. We congratulate them
heartily and wish that they continue to serve the department and they take
leave of absence when they go abroad for higher degrees. With the
cooperation of all and academic contributions, this department can turn
into one of the best in the subcontinent and help the University restore
its past glory when this institution used to be called Oxford of the East.
While appealing to the students not to leave their alma mater, we also
appeal to the university authority to create conditions both academically
and financially so that the young teachers feel comfortable in their
respective positions without the urge to leave the country for financial
reasons. One of the newly appointed teachers, Mr. Mustak is a prolific
writer and has already three genetics books written beautifully in our
mother tongue. Their continued service in the university will enrich the
Bengali language in as much as genetics will be more and more popular
among students at all levels. GNOBB wish them all Godspeed and good
luck.
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An important
article to GNOBB Readers interested in the Development of Biotech in
BD
Dhaka, Sep. 9, 2009. GNOBB readers are familiar with the relentless endeavors Professor Ahmed Azad has been making to develop Biotech to an international level excellence. Toward achieving that end he has been writing a series of articles in the Daily Star and has been the prime driving force behind organizing one international conference and another transcontinental symposium in Dhaka.
In the preparations of the recommendations of the
two international Meet, it is he who contributed most. So read the article
published in the DS available in the Link
that follows. http://www.thedailystar.net/
We know that scientists both at home and abroad remain
extremely busy with their daily agenda and do not find time to write their
views even though in their heart of hearts, they like to espouse the cause
by their rich viewpoints. While fully realizing their difficulties to
spare time, GNOBB feel that the request of the biotech community will fall
flat in the ears of the authority unless backed by a number of GNOBB
members in the form of supporting documents of
endorsement.
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An Extremely User-friendly website
launched by the Nature Magazine
Dhaka 31 Jan,
'09. GNOBB member Mahdi Moosa has brought
to our attention about a very powerful website recently launched by
Nature Publishing Group. The
site called Scitable provides a free science
library and personal learning tool. It currently concentrates on genetics,
evolution, variation and the rich complexity of living
organisms. It’s not only
user friendly but explains diverse themes related to genetics,
biotechnology and related topics. Undergraduate-, graduate students and
researchers fresh to the field will find the website extremely
helpful
As years pass
by the information technology is at the door step of anyone seeking
knowledge regardless of the country of the Internet browser. Gone are the
days when people from developing countries would have no access of recent
information without buying expensive latest text books and scientific
journals. Now there are a number of open access journals and almost all journals provide
abstracts of their contents. To equip oneself with the latest information on
scientific and technological advancements does not pose a formidable
knowledge. This website is only a
click away from you
________________________________
An Extremely Useful Site for
Active Research Worker
Dhaka
21 Jan, '09.GNOBB member,
Dr. Ariful Haque
a postdoctoral fellow in
ICGEB, Trieste whose specialization is in CERES elements that take part in
the splicing regulation process of CFTR exon 9 and exon
12, provides information about an
extremely useful website
maintained by
the Oxford University
Journals. This site summarizes the services provided
by INASP, HINARI:, AGORA, OARE:, TEERAL: and eIFL as follows: INASP: The International Network
for the Availability of Scientific Publications collaborates with
publishers in the developed world to facilitate access to research within
developing and countries. More.
…
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Nine Years Ago,
this Poem was presented before the BAPTC&B Intl.
Conference.
Dhaka 5th Sept.,'08. The Poem, captioned, "Some
Thoughts to Ponder Over as We Cross to the 21st Century" was presented
before the Third Intl Conference in Tissue Culture and Biotechnology nine
years ago. The situation stands now exactly as it was in December 1999.Pl read the Poem.
What is a Gene? History and Updated
Definition.
Austin, March 15,
'08. An open access article is available under
the title, “What is a gene, post-ENCODE? History and updated
definition,” published
in Genome Res. 17: 669-681 (2007),
written by ten experts, eight belonging to different departments at Yale
University, one of the ten at Stockholm University and the other at
European
Molecular Biology Laboratory, Germany. Describing the gene as
conceived in pre- and post-Mendelian era until the discovery of the
Structure and Function of a DNA molecule, the article elucidates the
changing definition of a gene pointing out that the
classical concept that
genotype determines phenotype still hold good and has not changed over time and that
at the molecular level one DNA sequence still codes for one protein or
RNA: which means that DNA sequences determine the sequences
of functional
molecules.. A part of the
concluding paragraph quoted from Falk is reproduced here: ‘‘. . . the gene is neither discrete nor continuous, nor does it have a
constant location, nor a clear cut function, not even constant
sequences nor definite borderlines.” And now the ENCODE
project has increased the complexity still further. In
the most general case, genes can be defined “consisting of sequence modules that
combine in multiple ways to generate products. By focusing
on the functional products of the
genome, this definition
sets a concrete standard in enumerating unambiguously the
number of genes it contains.” Click here to read the whole article.
______________________ 2.
What Individual Scientists can do to Influence the Attitude
of their Governments toward Science __________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________ Would You Like to Join the Forum? It is
Easy! The
immediate earlier period
witnessed the participation of Dr. Sharif
Akhteruzzaman, Professor, Department of Biochemistry and
Molecular Biology, DU, What a profound joy to discover that talented young
scientists of our country are
either pursuing higher
studies in prestigious institutes or working there as postdoctorals
or research associates all over the world. One such new member is Dr. Md.
Taufiq-ur-Rahman. An M.Pharm from DU, M.S in Molecular Pharmacology from
University of Manchester, UK, he did his Ph.D. in Natural sciences
from University of Cambridge, UK. After his postdoctoral in Department of
Pharmacology, University of Cambridge, UK he is now employed as a Research
Associate in the same department. The other is Ms Munia Amin. Ms
Amin is doing MRes in Life science in the College of Medicine &
Veterinary medicine studentship in the University of Edinburgh. Her plan
is to do Ph.D. in cancer genetics. The other recent members are Mr. SM Kaisar
Shikder, Mr.
Ahmad Humayan Kabir, Mr. M. Nazrul
Islam and Dr. MWhile Mr. Kaisar, an MS in
Entomology is an Assistant
Information Officer (crop production, Mr. Humayan is a Masters Student in
Molecular Biology at the University of Skövde and Stockholm University,
Sweden, Mr, Nazrul Islam, an M.Sc. in Microbiology is a senior Research
Officer in ICDDR,B.
To view the rest
of recently archived members please. click here
GNOBB readers and well-wishers of the Forum are invited to air
their views, particularly on the first article. The first article
has been written keeping in view that a lot remains to be done to
fine tune our ethics to be acceptable in the world scientific
community.
1. Codes of Conduct in Science and Technology
BioAsia 2007 – The Global Bio-Business
Forum
(See archive: GM
Crops: Latest Development))
(SEE ARCHIVE below for viewing your or
your friends' earlier publications.)
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Condolence Messages and
Important News including donor list on Late Md. Shahabuddin.
(See
archive below in this page)
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Watch an Awe-Inspiring Video on Cell
Functioning
Austin Oct 2, '06. We have enjoyed this animated video describing
the intricate highly complex processes that go on inside a cell. The
animation is awesome and soul inspiring. We wish that the video had an
audio description to make it more vivid to the viewers. Click the
title.
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Air
Your Views before the Next Meeting of the NECB
(See archives below in this
page)
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Viet Nam's Progress to Establish Millennium Institute
in their Country
Austin Sept. 12. The PPT presentation on
MSI establishment in Viet Nam should be an eye opener to us. A
well-planned and well thought-out proposal was submitted last
year. Please view the presentation and air
your views as to what should be our modus operandi in the establishment of
such an institute in Bangladesh.
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An Article of Interest to GNOBB Readers and
well-wishers
Austin July 4, 2006. Right from the
launch of GNOBB, its members have been expressing a keen interest
about promoting and further strengthening molecular biology
activity related both basic and applied sides in the country. Although not
directly related, attached is an article on this issue. Please click here or the Title
to retrieve it. If you endorse the idea, pl write
about it in any dailies of your choice, English or Bengali.
Pl click here to read the comments of Professor
Ahmed Azad on the creation of the NRB Ministry. His comments
appeared on the 18th July edition of the Daily Star.
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"DNA
and the Brain" - Nobel Laureate James Watson speaks at Google
Rally
Austin June 26,
2006. GNOBB readers
may be interested to see a video entitled, “DNA and the Brain” where
one of the two discoverers of DNA, Nobel Laureate James Watson, Chancellor
of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory speaks at a Google rally on April
20. The video has been provided by the CSHL Net-Letter June 2006 Edition. The latter
half of the talk is devoted to autism and the prospect of
a cure in the near future, as more and more information are
unraveled on characterizing genes and their base sequence located in
chromosome 15 (segment 15q11-13 ) and possibly 7. It takes quite
sometime to download the video. So pl. do not give up until the video
starts playing for you. You will enjoy the talk punctuated by a lot of
witty remarks such as he couldn’t get admission into the university of his
first choice.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8220394453782681101&q=watson
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You can view your profile
on the GNOBB website immediately after it's moderated. Click here to view the
Form. We have great pleasure in informing
existing members that you can update your profile by adding new
information including replacing your latest publication with one of the
earlier ones. [We only allow a maximum of
five of your publications.] However, you cannot leave any
column blank. Whatever information was provided earlier should also
be furnished. Since there would be only ONE entry for each Forum
member, the moderator will delete the old one. That is the reason why your
new profile page will remain incomplete, if you keep some columns
empty. What is time-saving of the new arrangement is that as soon as one
clicks the submit button, it is
automatically uploaded and the name is listed in an alphabetical order in
the section, "Member's profile" after the moderator okays it. One
could retrieve important information also immediately about the new
participant using the box marked "search scientist" on the top
right hand side of the home
page.
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Austin Nov. 11, '05. In order for the
members to look for previous postings, they have been archived under
different headings. For making the archived news items more
user-friendly, any suggestions are most welcome. Click the section/s
to find out the news item you are interested in.
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For the past issues of SABP and
December issue of ABSPII Newsletters (See
Newsletter section under Archive
Contents)
*Are GM Crops more dangerous
than planting mutanized varieties or growing exotic horticulture plants or
population of wide
crosses?
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*** View an Animated Tour through the Process of
RNA Interference
RNA Interference is the talk of the day in
the world of molecular Biology. However, many of us do not have an in
depth conception about what it is. For GNOBB viewers RNA Interference Quick Time Movie is presented
through the courtesy of Nature (www.nature.com). The
animation was specially created for Nature Reviews by Arkitek
Studios. Enjoy the Movie by clicking the Title. Pl. click the word
in blue font to download the Quicktime to view the movie.
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Objectives of GNOBB
A little more than a year ago many
of us working in the multitude of fields of biotechnology felt that it was
high time that we have had our own website giving consolidated
formation regarding our activity on the following lines: a) where we are
working; b). in which area of biotechnology; c) major findings listing
a maximum of 5 most significant publications; d) current and
future program of the scholar e) email, website (if any) and postal
addresses with a passport size photograph (in JPEG).
We
thought we would all benefit from such information in as much we would be
in a position to establish contact/liaison with fellow brothers/sisters
working in the same area. We also thought that it might be possible for us
to use this medium as a forum to express our views on important
issues such as GM crops, vaccine biotechnology, transgenic animals,
poultry and diagnostic kits and may be able to advise the
Government in important matters regarding various facets of
biotechnology. We feel extremely happy to report to the community that the
forum which we have named, "Global Network of Bangladeshi
Biotechnologists" which is in short GNOBB (www.gnobb.org), is
marching forward toward achieving the goal which it set at the time of
launching the forum. beginning October last week
2004.
"Prothom Alo", one of the leading Bengali Dailies
(http://www.prothom-alo.com) published from Dhaka has
congratulated GNOBB on the occasion of its first anniversary. Click here to read the English translation of the
featured article.
Future Prospect of GNOBB: The
Biotechnology community do not have the overall picture as to how
many Bangladeshi are working overseas in biotechnology related areas and
what contribution they have been making in these fields. So a
well planned website, giving relevant information on the line suggested
above will go a long way towards the utilization of expertise of
Bangladeshi expatriates towards launching any united effort to bring
important issues to the attention to of the Government of Bangladesh and
public. Expatriates will also benefit by knowing their counterparts
by exchanging views with them.
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Scope for advanced studies
overseas leading to higher degrees: One of the aims of this website will be to post from
time to time such important pieces of information so that more and more
students from Bangladesh can avail of the opportunities that are offered
by various overseas universities. (Click Fellowship section.)
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