RECENT NEWS

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 aislam24@yahoo.com or abidur@iwate-u.ac.jp.
We shall flash in the home page the news of any new member joining GNOBB. 

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An Unexpected Finding  in Medical Science: Correlation breaks down between abundance of mosquitoes and Dengue Fever at a certain level.
Dhaka, 23^rd July, ’08. One of the main strategies of preventing vector-borne diseases is to reduce the number of vector itself.  However, this generalization does not hold good always such as in dengue haemorrhagic fever (DHF). In an article published online in the 16^th July issue of PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Thammapalo et al.  have shown that in DHF infection up to a certain level, there is a correlation between the number of  Ades mosquitoes and the incidence of Dengue fever-infected people. Beyond that threshold value, the correlation breaks down; i.e., the increased number of Ades mosquitoes over a threshold actually reduces the incidence of DHF as observed in the Dengue endemic region of Thailand. The authors explain the phenomenon: an increased number of Ades mosquitoes, creates a greater chance of secondary Dengue infection which provides cross-seroprotection through seroconversion. Click here to read more

Summarized by Mahdi Moosa, Genetic Engg & Biotech, DU.

An Interesting Article on Transgenic Papaya in Plant Physiology
July 21st, '08. GNOBB readers specially those in doing work in GM crops and biosafety issues may be interested to read the following article which has been published in one of the recent issues of Plant Physiology. The full length article is available free online just a click away from the reader. Some important information about nutritive value of papaya fruit is that it supplies two of the three essential micronutrients, namely iron and vitamin A. A 100-g serving daily of ripe papaya supplies vitamin C and vitamin A in sufficient quantities to overcome micronutrient deficiencies. Here is a lesson to be learned by Bangladeshis which can be summed up by the statement of Dr. M. Abdul Momin, working in On-Farm Research Division, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute, Pabna, "Here people cannot afford vanity." 

Forbidden Fruit: Transgenic Papaya in Thailand by Sarah Nell Davidson.

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Further Progress toward Promoting Bioinformatics Facility in Bangladesh

Dhaka 18^th July, ’08. Dr. A.R. Sikder is here in Dhaka toward promoting Bioinformatics Facility in Bangladesh.  He has already met  Prof. A. F. M. Yusuf Haider (Pro-VC, DU), Dr. Yousuf  M. Islam (Computer Science and Engineering,  Daffodil International University), Prof.  Syed Saleheen Qadri (Director, Centre of Excellence DU), Dr Lutfar Rahman (Executive Director, Bangladesh Institute Health Science, Hospital at Dar-es Salaam), Mr. M Fazlur Rahman (MD, Ahsania Mission Cancer Hospital), Prof. Haseena Khan (Department of Biochemistry & Mol. Biol. DU), Dr. Jesmin (Department of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, DU), and Dr. Nasimul Noman (DU) in the last couple of weeks and had fruitful discussion on the issue. There was a positive response wherever  Dr. Sikder visited to explore the possibility of establishing an Institute of Bioinformatics. His future schedule includes meeting with High Officials at BIRDEM and ICDDR,B and Professor Shamsher Ali, President of Bangladesh Academy of Sciences. Read More.....
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Another Journal,  'BMC Plant Biology' of High Impact Factor by BioMed Central

Dhaka 20th July, '08. BMC Plant Biology is an open access journal publishing original peer-reviewed research articles in multidisciplinary areas of plant development such as at cellular-, tissue-, orgnismal-,  and functional level. The present issue has 30 research articles of which 20 have been borrowed from other related journals. They are all open access articles that will greatly help research students of developing countries carry out research programs in various important plants such as rice, Arabidopsis.  It is indexed by PubMed, MEDLINE, BIOSIS, CAS, Thomson Reuters (ISI) and Google Scholar. It has just received its first Impact Factor - an impressive 3.23; it is now ranked 18th of 152 in the field of Plant Sciences in the Journal Citation Report.
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Regulation of translation through non-canonical upstream ORF (uORF)
Dhaka 20^th July, ’08. In an article published 22^nd July, 2008 in PNAS USA, Ivanov et al. report the role of non-canonical upstream ORF (uORF) in translational regulation of mammals. There are several regulatory routes in Eukaryotic gene expression, many being discovered, while others remain to be unraveled. Recently various studies have revealed the role of upstream ORFs (uORF) which serve as an additional regulatory route. These uORFs show inhibitory effects in translation. Previously it was assumed that uORFs use AUG as their sole start codon but Ivanov et al. report that ornithine decarboxylase homologues in mammals have non-canonical evolutionarily conserved start codons as uORFs, the main one being AUU which serves as an autoregulatory circuit. Their study also illustrates the role of polyamine level as a new translation regulation device. Summarized by Mahdi Moosa, Genetic Engg & Biotech, DU. 
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Hair follicles of mammalian skin: Mechanism of adult stem cell morphogenesis
Dhaka 17^th July, ’08. In an article published July 2008 in Cell Stem Cell, Nowak et al. report the mechanism of stem cell development and morphogenesis in the early stages of  growth of mammalian skin. Adult stem cells (SCs), present in specific niches, maintain tissues during normal homeostasis and wound repair. The origin and the organizational pattern of  adult SCs within a niche remains largely unknown. The study of the above authors unveils that the progeny of Sox9-expressing cells develop into adult SCs in earliest stages of hair follicle morphogenesis. Furthermore, they have shown that early SCs can contribute to all skin epithelial lineages; and in their absence, the normal morphogenesis of HFs and SCs is blocked, severely compromising epidermal wound repair process. Summarized by Mahdi Moosa, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology, DU
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Contents of the June Issue of PTC&B Are Available online

Dhaka 14th July, '08. The present issue  now available online has 11 articles of which seven are plant tissue culture related and three on molecular biology. We have introduced a new feature, "News and Views".  The article in this category is by a GNOBB member, Dr. Abdur Rahman Sikder. Hope others will follow his example.  Read the contents and the titles of the articles by clicking here.

This is the 18th year since the publication of Plant Tissue Culture & Biotechnology.   Browsers all over the world including the Spanish and Portuguese speaking world view this journal. The World Map provided by site meter  (Click here to see the site meter recording the last 100 hits) will corroborate the statement.

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  Increasing the efficiency of RNAi (RNA interference) mediated knockdown
Dhaka 13^th July, ’08. In a research article published in 8^th July issue of PNAS (USA), Diederichs et al. report an novel method of increasing efficiency of RNAi mediated knockdown. One of the major problems with using RNAi is its variable efficiency and specificity. This complicates studies targeting individual genes and significantly impairs large-scale screens using genome-wide knockdown libraries. Diederichs et al. have shown that co-expression of Argonaute-2 protein along with interfering RNA gives uniform and highly specific target gene suppression. This observation has immediate applications for optimal design of RNAi strategies.Please click here for the article. Summarized by Mahdi Moosa, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology, DU..                      _________________________________________________________________
Lateral Gene Transfer in Eukaryotes 
Dhaka 13^th July, ’08. In a research article published online 9^th July  in PLoS ONE, Graham et el. report the event of Lateral Gene Transfer (LGT) in Eukaryotes. LGT has been a well-documented event in bacteria and viruses, but thus far this phenomenon has not been recorded in Eukaryotes. Here, Graham et al. provide the first such evidence for LGT in vertebrates. Fishes living in cold water produce an endogenous antifreeze protein encoded by a specific gene. The endogenous antifreeze protein allows fishes of different taxa to survive in cold water such as in the arctic ocean.. Until now, scientists believed that that these AFP proteins have evolved independently in different phylogenetic lineages, while some underwent convergent evolution. The isolated occurrence of three very similar type II AFPs in three distantly related fish species (herring, smelt and sea raven) cannot explain this unique event to be independent of one another.  The study of Graham et al.  suggests LGT to be  the possible mechanism accounting for the origin of the type two AFPs in the three different fish species that were investigated by these authors.Please click here for the article. Summarized by Mahdi Moosa, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology, DU.
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G8 Leaders Exhort Accelerated Nutrition-Rich Food Production by Agric. Biotech. Dhaka 11th July, '08. G8 leaders have reached  consensus that they would work as partners to establish a global network of high-level experts on food and agriculture that would provide science-based analysis, and highlight needs and future risks of developing countries. The countries forming the Group of eight are: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, United States and the United Kingdom. Read the official document by clicking here.
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Integrative genome analysis of somatic cell reporgramming
Dhaka 10^th July, ’08. In a research article published online 3^rd July edition of Nature, Mikkelsen et al. report integrative genome analysis of somatic cell reprogramming. The generation of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells from the somatic tissue is a fascinating avenue of current research due to its immense therapeutic potential. Ectopic expression of certain transcription factors can re-programme somatic cells into pluripotent state albeit at low efficiency. The mechanism and nature of molecular changes underlying the process of direct reprogramming was hitherto mostly unknown. To address this issue Mikkelsen et al. carried out integrative genomic analysis of reprogramming of mouse fibroblasts and B lymphocytes. Their study reveals the underlying reasons behind the low efficiency of direct reprogramming.  Besides their study also demonstrates that RNA inhibition of some other transcription factors can facilitate reprogramming and treatment with DNA methyltransferase inhibitors can improve the overall efficiency of the reprogramming process.

Summarized by Mahdi Moosa, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology,DU. DU.                                
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Heartiest congratulations to Dr. Jun-Jun Liu and  Dr. Ekram for their recent publication.
Dhaka, 9th July, '08. GNOBB congratulate heartily  Dr. Jun-Jun  Liu and  Dr. A K M Ekramoddoullah for  their recent online publication in the Journal of "Tree Genetics and Genomics," entitled, "Development of Leucine-rich Polymorphism ... in Western white Pine" The investigation was carried out at the laboratory of the internationally recognized expert in proteomics, who is the last  author of the article. Please click here to access the article
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Analysis of Branchiostoma floridae genome sheds light on the vertebrate origin
Dhaka 05^th July, ’08. In a paper published in the 1^st July issue of Genome Research, Holland et al. explore the evolution of cephalochordates from last common ancestor of the chordates (LCAC).  Chordate evolution has been a matter of intense debate among the biologists for the past one century. This phylum comprises cephalochordates (amphioxus or lancelets), urochordates (tunicates), and vertebrates. According to Gaskell’s view, cephalocordates lost their skeleton and cranial region after their divergence from urochordate and vertebrate lineage. Others considered that cephalocordates diverged before the origin of vertebrates. Comparative whole genome analysis of the cephalochordate B. floridae with several other chordate genomes by Holland et al. supports the latter view. In this paper, Holland et al. also address the evolution of homeobox genes, the neural crest gene network, opsins, endocrine genes, immune systems, and transcriptional enhancers of B. floridae. Their analysis shows that amphioxus reflects the primitive prevertebrate condition. Nevertheless, it also exhibits uniquely specialized features that arose in the half a billion years after its divergence from the rest of the chordate lineage-------- Summarized by Mahdi Moosa, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology, DU.                                                              _______________________________________________________________________________ Heartiest Congratulations to Dr. Nasir Uddin for his Recent Publications.
Dhaka, 2nd July, '08. GNOBB feel proud to announce the the following five publications of Dr. M. Nasir Uddin (uddinmna@yahoo.com) in which he is the lead author in the first three. All are prestigious journals. GNOBB readers will also find abstracts of his oral presentations in one conference and two meetings in the attachment. For the title of abstracts please click here. _____________________________________________
Evolution of a novel sex determination gene in Honeybee (Apis mellifera)  
Dhaka 1st July, ’08. In an article published online on the 25th June edition of Nature, Hasselmann et al. report a new sex determination gene of honeybee (Apis mellifera), namely, fem. Honeybee genome was published in 2006. But the later identification of this gene is partly attributable to highly AT-rich Sex Determining Loci (SDL)  and underrepresented in various cloning and shot-gun sequencing strategies. fem gene is located 12 kb upstream of already known complementary sex determiner (csd) gene and shares >70% similarity with Csd protein at amino acid level. RNA interference induced knock-out experiments indicate that fem is the second binary switch gene of the sex determination pathway that, when active, regulates the entire developmental program of females but not that of males. Comparative analysis of fem and csd coding sequences from five bee species indicates a recent origin of csd in the honeybee lineage from the fem progenitor and provides evidence for positive selection at csd accompanied by purifying selection at fem. The fem locus in bees uncovers gene duplication and positive selection as evolutionary mechanisms underlying the origin of a novel sex determination pathway. ---Summarized by Mahdi Moosa, Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology student, DU.
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Heartiest Congratulations to Dr. Kamal Chowdhury  for his Oral Presentation at SIVP
Dhaka, July 1, 2008. Dr. Kamal  Chowdhury attended  the 2008 World Congress of the Society for In Vitro Biology (SIVB)  held June 14-18 at Tucson, Arizona. The world renowned biologist, Professor MS Swaminathan was the key note speaker at the Congress, who spoke on, "Global agriculture at the Crossroad: Pathway to an Era of Biohappiness".  Dr. Chowdhury made an oral presentation and also was the moderator of a session in which research papers on plant related topics were presented. The title of Dr. Chowdhury’s presentation was “transformation of tomato with anti-malarial genes with an aim to produce edible vaccines” in  the session entitled, “Plant Vaccines, Pharmaceuticals, and Allergen production”.  He talked about the importance, severity and the life cycle complexity of plasmodium - the malaria causing organism and the urgent need for developing affordable malaria vaccines to save millions of lives in the severely affected endemic areas of the world.
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Excision of selectable marker gene from transgenic tobacco using the GM-gene-deletor system regulated by a heat-inducible promoter 
Dhaka 1^st July, ’08. The success of transgenic plant development depends largely on selection of transformed over non-transformed cells and tissues, and finally regeneration from there. For this selection various selectable marker genes are used which either give selection in presence of selective chemical agents (antibiotics and herbicides) or give visual characteristics like shooty phenotype (conferred by isopentenyl transferase gene (ipt) from Agrobacterium tumefaciens). Selectable marker genes conferring resistance to chemicals have concerns on biosafety issues, while phenotypic characters give abnormal morphology of no agronomic importance. Such a situation has prompted molecular breeders to remove the marker gene from the transgenics. In an article published online on the 15 March 2008 edition of Biotechnol Lett (DOI 10.1007/s10529-008-9684-7), Lue et. al. report a technology comprising excision of selectable marker genes based on a ‘genetically modified (GM)-gene-deletor’ system. They constructed a new binary vector where T-DNA was flanked by two loxP/FRT fusion sequences as site-specific recombination sites.The article reports a dependable strategy for auto-excising of selectable marker gene(s) to produce marker-free transgenic plants. To read the full summary please click here. The whole article is available only for GNOBB users here. ~Summarized by Dr. Aparna Islam, Biotechnology Programme, BRAC University.

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The evolution of Anthocyanin pathway gene dihydroflavonol-4-reductases    
Dhaka 30th June, ’08. In an article that appeared on line on the 25th June edition of Nature Marias et al. explores the evolution of Anthocyanin pathway gene dihydroflavonol-4-reductases (DFR, EC number 1.1.1.219) in Eudicots. Gene duplication is one of the major ways of evolving genes with novel functions. There are two models on how gene duplications lead to new functions: a) The NEO-F Model (Neo-functionalization) and b) EAC (Escape of Adaptive Conflict) Model. In NEO-F model, new function is achieved after the event of duplication. On the contrary, in relatively unexplored EAC model, genes acquire novel function which maintains its ancestral function also. This gene is constrained from improving either novel or ancestral function because of detrimental pleiotropic effects on the other function. But upon duplication, any of the copies can be selected for enhancement of the novel function. In a recent paper that appeared on line on the 25th June edition Nature Marias et al. explores the evolution of Anthocyanin pathway gene dihydroflavonol-4-reductases (DFR, EC number 1.1.1.219) in Eudicots with respect to both of these models. Their study suggests EAC as mode of evolutionary change of this gene. Besides they also conclude EAC may be far common mode of evolution than previously thought. One interesting conclusion of their study is that the evolution of novel function may sometimes be a byproduct of the evolution in enhanced ancestral activity. ---- Summarized by Mahdi Moosa, Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology student. DU. __________________________________________________________________
Welcome News for Resource-Poor Countries: Call from Roche for Grant Proposals
Dhaka 24th June. Prof. Ahmed Azad has received the following message from Roche Applied Science: “As part of our continuing commitment to promote basic research in the life sciences, Roche Applied Science announces the 10 Gigabase Grant Program for DNA sequencing and transcriptome analysis studies. The grant program will award up to 10 gigabases of DNA or cDNA sequencing data to an individual, institution, or corporation. The winning grant recipient(s) will be responsible for the experimental design, the quality and submission of the appropriate samples, and the analysis and interpretation of the resulting data. Roche Applied Science will perform all sequencing, primary data generation, and analysis using the Genome Sequencer FLX System, developed by 454 Life Sciences. The 10 gigabases of data will be generated using the new Genome Sequencer FLX reagents that produce an average of 400-base-pair read lengths. In total, up to 25 million sequencing reads will be generated, resulting in 10 gigabases of information.”  Please click here to read the entire news. __________________________________________________________________
 

The Future of Bioinformatics  in Bangladesh: Opinion  by Dr. Haris
Dhaka, the 30^th of May, ’08. We are at crossroads trying our best to decide whether the proposed  Bioinformatics Institute should  be (i)  an independent institute both resident and affiliating; (ii) a part of the National Institute of Biotechnology; or (ii) be established in a public or private university. GNOBB member Dr. Parvez Haris, currently at De Montfort University, UK and an expert in bioinformatics and proteomics has written a thought-provoking reply to Dr. Abdur Rahman Sikder, who can be credited to open once again the issue, initiated originally by Dr. Haris six years back (2002). Dr. Haris describes his sad experience that despite the initial enthusiasm shown by Prof. Jamilur Reza Choudhury and Prof. Zafar Iqbal, the future of bioinformatics is still uncertain in that courses in this discipline have not been launched neither in any public nor in any private university. Pl read the comments  and express yours by clicking here. Read more about what other members say about the Institute.

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Long way to go for to catch up with the biotech progress of the contemporary world
Dhaka June 2^nd, ’08. Soon after his arrival in Dhaka, the moderator contacted Mr. Wahid-uz-Zaman, Secretary, the Ministry of Science, Information and Communication Technology to inquire about the fate of his SOS message emailed to him on the 10^th of May regarding  the implementation of recommendations adopted at the International Biotech Conference held in April, 2007. He pursued the matter and now  the SOS letter is in the hands of the Secretary, MoSICT. To read the letter addressed to the Secretary click here. The moderator can be contacted at 8802-989-5839.

The moderator takes the opportunity of appealing to members to offer suggestions as to how to speed up the process for the Government to take a favorable decision on the recommendations. In this connection, a special request is made to local members to  volunteer their service to accompany the moderator and Dr. Sultanul Aziz to meet the concerned officials after an appointment is made. It does NOT need to be overemphasized that  there will be an inordinate delay unless a decision is  made in our favor at least two months before the general election.
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The Maternal control of MET1 on Seed Size of Arabidopsis
Dhaka June 1^st , 2008. Jonathan FitzGerald, Abed Chaudhury and their associates have published an article entitled, “DNA Methylation Causes Predominant Maternal Controls of Plant Embryo Growth” online in Public Library of Science  (PLoS ONE) 3(5), an open access journal. By a series of elegant experiments, they have demonstrated the influence of MET1 (methyl transferase1) gene on the male and female gametophytic development and their effect on seed size. For instance,  loss of MET1 during male gametogenesis results in a reduction of seed size. On the other hand, seed size is increased considerably consequent on the reduction of MET1 dosage in the maternal somatic tissue, the dominant allele MET1 being responsible for limiting cell division  and elongation of integuments surrounding the ovule.  To the contrary, when the recessive allele met1 is contributed by the female  parent, seed size is increased. Their results lead them to conclude that the embryo growth is regulated by MET1 in which the control is largely by the female parent.
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Antidote for Deadly Botulinum Neurotoxin in sight: work of two famous USA labs. 
Austin, April 29th. '08. Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory and the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) have taken the first step toward designing an effective antidote to the most potent of seven neuro- toxins produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. The results of this outstanding work have been published in the April 22, 2008 online issue of the J. Biol. Chemistry in an article captioned, “Structure and substrate based inhibitor design for  Clostridium botulinum neurotoxin serotype A”. Dr. S. Ashraf Ahmed USAMRIID, the principal investigator and one of the authors of the above publication initiated the structure-based inhibitor design as part of the Institute's bio-defense research program. Dr Ashraf remarked, "We are excited about the success of this work and the prospects it holds for future drug development."  Read more ....

GNOBB congratulate heartily to its member Dr. S. Ashraf Ahmed and his associates for their achievement - communicated by Dr. S. Ashraf Ahmed.

Read congratulatory messages from Professor Azad, Dr. Parvez Haris. The two messages also contain a number of suggestions on the ways and means to promote biotech BD.
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An Institute of Bioinformatics Planned in Bangladesh
Austin May 8, 2008. Sometimes things move faster beyond expectation. Only yesterday morning, GNOBB member Dr. Abdur  Sikder, currently employed as a Visiting Scholar in the University of California at Berkeley sought GNOBB’s help to establish an Institute of Bioinformatics in Bangladesh with an independent existence but working closely with Universities and/or other educational and pharmaceutical institutions.  He has already registered a domain name Biobd.org and posted news on the proposed Institute outlining its objectives.  The letter was responded to promptly offering GNOBB’s support and it was also forwarded  to eight Forum members who are working in different areas of bioinformatics collected from GNOBB's database and a few others in BD and abroad. Dr. Sikder was requested to write an article on Bioinformatics and its importance in Bangladesh . In record time i.e., within 24 hours he submitted an article on the subject entitled, Bioinformatics in Bangladesh: an optimistic view. Pl. click here to read the interesting article. Pl. send your comments also. 
Comments: Dr. Jesmin (GEB, DU), Dr. Hasan Jamil, Associate Professor, Computer Science (CS), Wayne University, USA, Dr. Nasimul Noman, CS, DU., Professor Ahmed Azad and Azad-Sikder. Bioinformatics is a means to an end - Azad
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	Papaya Genomic Sequence Paper  by 85 Scientists  under the Leadership of Prof. Maqsudul Alam has been published today,  the 24th April Issue of Nature
Prof. Maqsudul Alam, ASGPB

Austin, 24th April, '08. The paper entitled, "The draft genome of the transgenic tropical fruit tree papaya (Carica papaya Linnaeus)" by  Prof. Maqsudul Alam and 84 Associates has featured in the 24th July edition of Nature,  including a cover page photograph of transgenic papaya plantation, Prof. Alam’s interview with the editor of Nature (452: 991-996) and the most recent press release by Advanced Studies in Genomics, Proteomics and Bioinformatics (ASGPB). GNOBB congratulate him and coworkers from the bottom of their hearts  on this outstanding feat. GNOBB members have no doubt in their mind that Prof. Alam will guide  biotechnologists in general and young scientists of Bangladesh in particular to put the country's name  in the forefront of Molecular Biology. Read the summary by clicking here.

Congratulatory message from Dr. Firdausi Qadri,  Dr. Abed Choudhury, Prof. Ahmed Azad, and  Prof. Haseena,  Dr. Md. Tofazzal Islam

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Visits of Expatriates to BD:  When will be your next visit to BD?

Austin, April 30, 2008. GNOBB member, Dr. Abu B. Siddique, Senior Research Scientist, Johnson and Johnson Co. Pennsylvania wrote to GNOBB that during his visit to BD in the first week of  July, he will be happy to give a talk on any of the following topics. His field of specialization is immunology and toxicology related fields. The topics he has chosen are as follows: 1) Safety assessment of vaccines and biologics; b) Drug development from start to finish: c) State-of-the-art immunological techniques used for safety assessment during the pre-clinical and clinical studies. Click here to read the highlights of the talk he is expected to present. He is already scheduled to address the scientists at BIRDEM. More.... Those of you who are planning to visit BD within the next 12 months, pl fill in the online  participation form  (click the words in black bold) available on the right hand column of the homepage under the heading, "Participation of BB during their visit to Bangladesh."

Click here to read  Dr Zaheed Husain's message in response to the above news. Dr Siddique has been invited to speak at a number of institutions indicating fulfillment of GNOBB's objective of creating interaction between NEB's and Bangladeshi Biotech community.   Read more... to know the people who have invited Dr. Siddique.
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Future of Biotechnology in Bangladesh
Austin, April 10, '08. On the occasion of   Plant Tissue Cult. Biotech conference starting tomorrow the 11th, an article captioned, "Future of Biotechnology in Bangladesh" has been generated compiling important information from the birth of the Bangladesh Association for Plant Tissue Culture to its present status. It will be highly appreciated if Forum members or anyone interested in the promotion and development of biotechnology make comments adding, modifying or making suggestions for further strengthening our endeavor to build better Bangladesh through the application of this mind boggling science of the 21st Century. Read the article.

Read the Comments received from Dr. Parvez Haris.
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University and Politics
Austin March 27, ’08. It is a matter of opinion whether to post in GNOBB website the attached reply in response to a letter captioned, "University and Politics" published in DS in  "the letters to the Editor" section, since the subject matter does not strictly fall within the purview of GNOBB's objectives. However, the development and nurturing of science and technology in the country depends upon revival of conducive academic atmosphere in universities and its strict adherence in letter and spirit, when democracy returns. It is in this backdrop that the hyper-linked reply has been sent to DS for publication with the hope that the current regime will carefully consider the suggestions contained therein and take steps to keep the standard of BD Universities at par with those of the region. If you agree with the opinion in principle, pl endorse it with additional points. Here is the letter.
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Hybrid rice cultivation  in Bangladesh  is on the increase by app. 100 per cent  

Austin 23^rd March, ’08.  Thanks to the effort of the Government that rice farmers have grown hybrid rice in the ‘boro’ season  in over seven lakh hectares compared to 3.9 lakh ha last year. Farmers were motivated to grow more rice to ensure food security and to face the challenge of food shortage in the wake of devastating twin flood and the cyclone ‘Sidr’.  Hybrid rice is one good example as to how biotech helps us in enhancing production of  staple food crops such as rice during the time of emergency when food is needed most.

The yield of hybrid rice such as Hira, Aloron, Jagoron, Sonar Bangla and Moina, is 20-30% higher than HYV’s, input of fertilizers and other practices remaining the same, initially under the supervision and management of rice hybrid experts.  Read More…

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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.

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Would You Like to Join the Forum? It is Easy!
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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GNOBB Membership strength is now 308
Dhaka 20th July, '08. Latest to join the Forum is Mustak  bin Ayub,  one more  M. Sc. student studying in the Dept. of  Genetic Engineering  and Biotechnology, Dhaka University. He is a prolific writer and has already published four books in Bengali in genetic Engineering and related areas.   Adequately illustrated, all the books explain so lucidly a difficult area of molecular biology such as genetics engineering,  human cloning, GM crops etc. that a layman with hardly any genetic background may form a fairly good idea about the modern trend that is revolutionizing the human concept of biology. Earlier to join  were: Mr. Mahdi Moosa and Ms. Sabrina Elias. Both are M. Sc. Students studying in the Department of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology and the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, respectively. While Mahdi is enriching GNOBB website summarizing recent articles in biotechnology, Ms Sabrina is regularly updating the GNOBB website. This is the minimum what the Forum can offer  by offering them membership before their graduation. Abdullah Al-Emran, an M. Sc. in Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology from DU has also become a member bringing the total member strength to 307.Earlier  Dr. Sujon Sarowar an M.Sc. from Rajshahi University, a Ph.D. from Korea University, Seoul and a post doctoral at KRIBB, Yonsei Univ, S. Korea, joined the forum; he is now a Postdoc Research Fellow, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. USA. His area of specialization is Molecular Plant-Pathogen Interaction. During middle of june  Mr. Md.  Asaduzzaman, an assistant professor in the Institute of Statistical  Research and Training, D.U joined GNOBB forum.  He is currently a Ph.D. student at the University of Westminster, London, UK. Earlier he did  M.Sc. in Bioinformatics from Chalmers University of Technology.  He has specialization in Statistics, and Computational Biology.  Earlier four members enrolled themselves as GNOBB members. They are: Imtiaj  Hasan, Farzana Islam  Rume, Samir  Debnath, Md. Rashedul  Islam. GNOBB welcome them heartily and expect them to enrich this web-based organization with their valuable contributions.  

 

To view the rest of recently archived  members  pl. click here
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Archive Contents
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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July Issue of SABP is Now Online

Dhaka 16^th July, ’08. In the July SABP issue the following important articles and news  have been published. The national Institute of Nutrition hosts Food Safety Symposium, entitled, GM Food Safety assessment  in India. The discussion centered round the most recent guidelines  and protocols recommended for the safety assessment of foods derived from the genetically engineered plants: issues for regulators, consumers and scientists. Another published  news is that the 10^th International Symposium on the biosafety of genetically modified organisms will be held November 16-21, 2008 in Wellington, New Zealand. The Newsletter also mentions about a website  called Agbioforum representing an online  journal focusing on the interactions of agro-biotechnology  with Economics.

It also highlights an article entitled, Forbidden Fruit: Transgenic papaya in Thailand published in Plant Physiology (2008) 147: 487-493. Read the July issue of SABP.

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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.)
For scientists below 30 years of age. Please find out whether any of the scholarships listed in the website is suitable for you.
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Job opportunities in biotech-related fields in Bangladesh: As soon as we receive information such as from the Ministry of S&T,  GoB, we will publish news relating to job opportunities available in biotech-related Government institutions as well as in private companies.