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Dhaka the 11th March, ’09.
Those who are following closely the BDR gruesome killings know that
the unidentified bodies killed on the 25th of February mutiny
were sent to Dhaka Medical College for DNA testing. Thanks to GNOBB
member, Professor Sharif Akhteruzzaman and his team comprising Messrs
Shafiul, Ferdous, Eunus, Tania and Mahmudat at the Forensic Dept. at Dhaka
Medical College, DNA testing revealed that two of the dead bodies
were those of Col. Gulzar Uddin Ahmed and Lt. Col.
Elahi Monjur. We know that in advanced countries these are routine work,
namely identifying bodies with DNA test but in our country this technique
has been fairly new and all credit goes to Professor Zaman and his team
for accomplishing this task within shortest possible time under the
circumstance in which the dead bodies were badly decomposed. We hope that
further facilities in the form training and new equipment will be provided
so that in the not too distant future, this Dept. will help in providing
the custom-made medicine suited to the specific genotype.
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Strawberry – A success Story from
RU Tissue Culture Lab to Fields.
Dhaka the 2nd March, ’09. Today’s (the 2nd March) edition of the Daily
Star has published the story of Al-Amin Talukdar, a farmer in Barisal. He
successfully grew strawberry at his farm in Barisal, drawing inspiration
from Dr. Manzur Hossain, who succeeded in mass-propagating some strains of
strawberry through Tissue Culture followed by appropriate hardening and
transfer to the field with hardly any fatality. After his initial success
in his TC Lab, Dr Hossain, who works as a Professor at the Department of
Botany, Rajshahi University, embarked upon an ambitious plan of
introducing strawberry - a temperate climate soft fruit into subtropical
Bangladesh characterized by short winter of 3-4 months. Although Dr
Hossain’s academic and professional training is in Botany, he has proved
that given determination a botanist can also turn into agriculture
experimentalist developing strawberry strains, RB-1, RB-2 and RB-3 now
growing on a semi-commercial scale.
More.
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How to get Great DNA Sequencing Results
Dhaka, 21st Feb'09. In recent years DNA sequencing has become an
essential part of genome research. The rapid developments in
DNA sequencing technologies and improvement in variety of sequencing
methods have made the sequencing facilities currently available to many
developing countries as well. The suggested improved methods will help
molecular biologists to carry out quality research. However,
sequencing of genome can be impeded due to improper handling and
ignorance. From that angle GNOBB would like to suggest some important
sequencing tips recently published in a Molecular Biology blog. Pl,
click here to access to the sequencing tips.
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J. Visualized Experiments:
An Innovative Way To Learn Orig. Biol. Res.
Methodologies in a Video Format
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An Extremely User-friendly website launched by the Nature Magazine 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 CSHL Publishes
Newsletter Highlighting its Research Achievement for
2008 Dhaka 31st
Oct., '08 The International Crops
Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) with the support
of the International Service for the Acquisition of
Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA) and the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has published the following
book entitled, Genes are Gems:
Reporting Agri-Biotechnology. Science communicators and journalists will find the book very handy
as a source of information for GM crops and all the issues related to
GM's. This book removes the long felt need of the journalists without much
genetics background Familiarity with this book which explains every
GM related scientific event and problem will embolden the
journalists to report about GM crops in great detail without sacrificing
their accuracy. Help Asif A Biotech SUST Student
Generously for his Cancer Treatment It
is the sacred duty of all of us, both GNOBB members and all those under
the umbrella of the Young
Groups combined to contribute to the fund generously for the
treatment of Asif who has been diagnosed to have developed tumor of
malignant type. You can directly send your contribution to: Asif Sahajja
Tohobil (A/c 7956), Sonali Bank, SUST Branch, Sylhet. GNOBB will be glad
to publish the list of donors from time to time to keep the readers
informed both about the amount of donation received and the progress of
the treatment. Note out of Tk 320
lakhs, SUST has collected so far Tk 227567. _____________________________
Computational and Comparative Genomics Training Course
at CSHL
On reading the news about the workshop, Mustak is
going to attend at CSHL, Mr.
Firoz Anwar, Senior Lecturer at Dept. of CSE, East
West University inquires whether it
would be possible for Mr. Mustak upon
his return from the USA to arrange a
similar workshop for
interested scientists working currently in
bioinformatics or related fields. He continues to say that along with him
some of his colleagues and those in DU working in bioinformatics
would be keen to attend such a workshop.
_________________________________________________________________ On
Line Submission of Articles to the BAPTC&B Journal Quite
some time back I made an urgent appeal to GNOBB members to support the Journal
of Plant Tissue Culture & Biotechnology by contributing their
research papers/review articles. There has been some response but not to
the extent that the Journal – the only one that is published regularly
in BD for over 17 years - expected. While appealing I compared our
situation with the age-old adage: Chicken First or Egg First. Many of us
who have already established reputation in their fields of specialization
argue: “Why we should report our findings in a local journal when we
have foreign periodicals to publish it.” More.....
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Another objective of CHASA
will be to explore the possibility whether outsourcings can be carried out
in RU or any other university and research organization in BD. In his letter
Dr. Nasim mentions that researchers at Guy’s Hospital are using the
outsourcing facilities including cloning, cDNA library preparation, stable
cell line preparation, sequencing, genotying, chemical library screening
and mouse genetics. He is hopeful such facilities can be created
in BD with the help of
some Indian firms whose prices are very competitive.
Read the
letter.
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Need
of the Day: Quality Textbooks for School Students
Dhaka, the 8th Oct., '08.
In a brief article published on the 5th of
October in The Daily Star, the Moderator has brought to the attention
of concerned authority including The Textbook Board of the dire need of
publishing science books of high quality, suggesting that local experts be
hired and stationed at a holiday workplace with the mandate that their
assigned job is to finish writing text books for elementary classes within a
period of 2-3 months. For this difficult assignment they should be given
sufficient logistic support as well as decent honorarium.
The American scientists did exactly that job in
early sixty's by bringing out yellow, green and blue; i.e., three
versions of biology and science books in two other major disciplines for
high school students. All the three versions were welcomed through the
academic world as something extraordinary to raise the level of standard as
much as the contents were modernized to keep up with the advancement of
science in physics, chemistry and biology.
Read the
letter.
____________________________________________________________________________ S&
T Development Budget in Kuwait: An Increase from 0.2
to 1% of GDP According to SciDev, the
budget for S&T development in Kuwait has increased this year from 0.2
to 1% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Ever since the Indian subcontinent got independence, first the
scientists in Pakistan and now those in Bangladesh have been advocating
for an increase of budget to 1% of GDP for promotion of S&T.
Unfortunately, allocation to the sector has not increased
sufficiently. Our policy makers and those who wield the destiny of the
country are still in deep sleep, while many of our neighboring countries
e.g. Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam etc and a number of Arab countries are
marching ahead to promote the development of a knowledge-based sustainable
economy. It’s high time that Bangladesh wakes up to the reality
and adopts measures to make up the loss that it has sustained on account
of its lukewarm attitude toward development of S&T. Or else the
knowledge gap will widen; and
we will be forever marginalized in the world of knowledge-intensive
societies. Backwardness in
the world of S&T can only lead to stagnation and economic downfall. By
means of S&T culture we can bring about reform to reduce inequalities,
injustice and oppression and can help accelerate a global enlightenment.
______________________________________________________________________ A Dedicated Portal for Researchers in Biosciences, Bio-Pharmaceuticals, Bioinformatics, Pharmacy, Health Science Dhaka, 30th Sept., 08, During his recent surfing of the Internet Dr. Abidur Rahman has discovered a link of a website made by an Indian Scientist Dr. Abhayjere, now working as a researcher at MIT. Along with his brother Dhananjayjere he has designed this extremely useful website containing huge resources for students and researchers in different facets of biotechnology comprising among others, scientific protocols, basic science videos, free online books, composite databases on bioinformatic tools, science search engines, latest scientific papers and research highlights on different recent topics.. For ready reference, the site, dedicated to academics, is recommended to GNOBB members. Click here or the title to access the site.
__________________________________________________ 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 _____________________________________________________________________ MS in Biotechnology in BRAC University
Dhaka 16th Aug., 08. BRAC University invites
applications from honors
graduates in Agriculture/Biochemistry/Biotechnology/ Botany/
Fisheries/Zoology, medical science etc.,
for admission in MS Biotech. In addition to course requirements and
attendance to practical classes students are required to complete a
research project in a recognized institute such as ICDDR,B. The last date
of admission into the course is 28th August on which date
Autumn semester will commence. Pl follow
the
link in order to get detailed information. _____________________ Another Journal, 'BMC Pl 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 ._____________________________________________ Comments
From Eight Members about Intl Funding. Isn't It Amazing? Dr. Parvez Haris, Dr. Zaheed Hussain, Dr. Hemayet Ullah, Prof. Zeba I. Seraj, Dr. Abidur Rahman, Dr. Abed Choudhury. Dr. Parvez Haris (second letter), Prof. Ahmed Azad. Dr. Shah Md. Faruque's original
letter has generated a lot of stimulating and thought-provoking discussion
among GNOBB members, not hitherto seen since its birth a little more than
three years ago. Here
are Dr. Faruque's remarks in reply to comments so far received
(see the above comments to refresh your memory by pressing the
individual names in blue fonts.) In
order for Bangladeshi scientists to apply for a foreign grant related to
infectious diseases, he requested GNOBB to post the announcement in its
website. So here it is including the
link to obtain detailed information about this funding source. Addenda: Professor Ahmed Azad enriches the ongoing discussion on International Funding with his valuable experience on this issue. Pl. read the letter which he begins by congratulating Prof. Maqsudul Alam on the outstanding achievement of himself and his team on unraveling the genetically modified papaya genome. $1000 for Sequencing a Human Genome within Foreseeable Future ______________________________ A Day Spent by BRACU MS Biotech Students at Square Agritech in Uttara Austin , 2nd April, 08. BRAC U Biotech students were happy to see Tissue Culture lab facilities at Square Agritech and also to watch the whole procedure of tissue culture from media preparation to raising plantlets aseptically in suitable media followed by their hardening – the last step being most crucial before marketing. Within five years since their establishment in 2002, their commercial products, namely, virus free potato certified seeds and virus free banana saplings are on the market and have already gained confidence among consumers. Their visit gave them a sense of self reliance and a rewarding feeling that the job prospects in biotechnology are bright. Read the report prepared by a staff member of the same department. _________________ Meeting of two dedicated NRB scientists: Prof Ahmed Azad and Prof. Alam Dhaka, Feb. 19, '08, The exchange of letters between two mastermind GNOBB scientists is reproduced to enable you to see how deep-seated their mindsets are. The two scientists are Professor Ahmed Azad and Professor Maqsud Alam. Through exchange of their letters, they have shown how difficult it is to report a laboratory plant product and their ultimate release as an efficacious drug. They suggest that the developing countries should work together and pool their resources to accomplish this seemingly unattainable task. Pl click here to read the correspondence. Pl. read comments of Dr. Sultanul Aziz. __________________ Good News for scientists in Developing Countries: Open access to Science Journals Austin July 13, '07. According to a news item published in the 16th July edition of Sci.Dev.Net, researchers in developing world will have open access to scientific journals until 2015 – thanks to Microsoft which has extended technical assistance allowing scientists, policymakers and librarians in the developing world quick access to online research. The decision was reached at a meeting held in Washington DC on the 10th of July attended by representatives of the World Bodies: WHO, FAO, UNEP, leading science and technology publishers, and those from Cornell and Yale Universities. This resolution is in pursuance with the goals of the UN's Millennium Development Program. _______________________________________________ Heartiest & Warmest Eid Greetings to All Forum Members Austin Oct. 13, ’07. We take this opportunity to convey our heartiest and warmest Eid Greetings to all our Fellow Members from home and abroad, well-wishers, sympathizers from within and outside our discipline. We feel excited at our recent success in generating momentum to organizers of the last Biotech Conference in Dhaka to hold it on a scale competitive with the rest of the world in its level of excellence. On this auspicious day of Eid-ul-Fitr let us all pray fervently that the recommendations based on the consensus of participants anchor deep into the hearts of Policy Makers and they approve this historical document without further delay opening up a new chapter in the country's scientific progress and technological advancement in different disciplines of biotechnology. [Pl Magnify the image to read what is inscribed on the cubes.] Eid Mubarak & A Happy New Year to All Gnobb Members and Well-wishers Austin
Dec 29, '06.
Eid
Mubarak & A Happy New Year to All Gnobb Members and
Well-wishers. May the year 2007 see our forum flourish to enter its
glorious chapter and help us attain our goal. Hurry up Potential Aspirants for Admission to MS in Biotechnology in BRAC University Austin, Aug. 27, '07. Information has just reached GNOBB moderator that some students desirous to seek admission to MS in Biotechnology in BRAC University (BU) in the fall semester do NOT know the details including that last date of submitting applications to BU is 2nd of September and the classes would start on the 16th of the same month. GNOBB consider it to be their sacred obligation to provide interested candidates in the above course some of the basic information. Pl click the title or here to know about the details. The information has been kindly supplied by Mustak bin Ayub a biotech graduate student at Dhaka University and an active member of Young Yahoo Group of BB.
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A Welcome News: GNOBB Website
resumes its Normal Function
In
view of GNOBB's proposed program of utilizing the services of
BB, the news of the
forthcoming month-long
visit (from 6th
of April) of Prof. Ahmad. S. Islam, will interest the local Forum
members and also expatriates. Prof.
Islam, one of the founder members of
the Web Forum, will be glad to meet local GNOBB members and
Forum's
sympathizers for discussing topics
on promoting biotechnology in
________________________________
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Happy holidays and
a happy New Year to all Forum members Austin December 27,
'05. Happy
holidays and a happy New Year to all Forum members and all
well-wishers of GNOBB. We sincerely hope that the relentless effort
we have been making through this Forum to carry our message to the
policy makers and administrators about the importance of
biotechnology will soon bear fruit. Without further loss of time,
they will take adequate measures to create state of the art
facilities making it possible for Bangladeshi Biotechnologists to
undertake both basic and applied research attacking and solving
problems unique to the country. Nothing spectacular happens without investment and that's the
urgent and dire need of the hour so that Bangladeshis enjoy the
benefits that this emerging science has already brought to
developed and a number of developing countries. GNOBB has
currently 112 members. The data- base with search facility shows
that hardly
there is any field of biotechnology in which we don't have
expertise. It's high time that GoB take note of our
extremely knowledgeable manpower and utilize their expertise
to make our dream true; i.e., harvesting enormous benefits that
this emerging science can bring to our country. If our neighboring
countries can do it, we can also do it.
Eid
Mubarak to All GNOBB Members and Well-Wishers Dr.
Shohael Abdullah, a recent forum member from Korea wishes
Eid Mubarak to all of us in a very colorful and artistic way with a
stone in the sea posing for prayer in SIJDA. Pl
see the graphic presentation of the spirit of Eid.
Austin Aug
13,’06. Let us all join in praying to the Most Compassionate, the
Most Merciful Allah supplicating to Him, the All Powerful to spare
the life of Dr. Mohammed Shahabuddin and grant him complete
recovery. This young scientist, a faculty member in Boston
College, Massachusetts has already earned fame in the international
arena for his valuable contribution in the field of transgenic
insect and gene microarray technology in general and anopheles
mosquito in particular. Last night he was taken to Brigham
Women's Hospital after he complained of severe pain. For quite
sometime he has been suffering from lung cancer. When he resumed his
duties at the Boston College after the treatment we all hoped
that the worst is over. Prayer can do miracle and let us hope
that Dr. Shahabuddin soon gets well and resumes his normal activity. SABP
Newsletter for June is Out
Austin June 14. The June issue of SABP is now available. There are a number of interesting article including that of Mr. Abdul Awal Mintoo, President, FBCCI & Chairman East West Seed (Bangladesh) Ltd on, "Application of Biotechnology for increasing agricultural productivity in Bangladesh. The issue also contains a report on a 5-day workshop jointly organized by SABP and BARC on, "The review and evaluation of experimental trials of transgenic crops." The address by Mr. M. K. Anwar on the importance of biotechnology in agriculture timely and will pave the way of introduced vitamin-rich indica version of "Golden Rice" in Bangladesh. Please click the title to view the full contents of the Newsletter. ________________
A
Heartening News: Dr. Shahabuddin is Getting Well Austin,
February 4, '05. In his most recent email message addressed to Prof. Islam and close associates at his former alma mater
(DU), Dr. M. Shahabuddin writes: "I am so honored to receive your continued blessings. Because of your prayer, I am
Insha-Allah doing well with my ailment. Initially doctors had little hope. Now after an expected genetic diagnosis and a specific medication, doctors are hopeful in keeping the disease under control. Physically I am doing very well too
Insha-Allah. In near future I hope to be with you and if Allah wishes I would like to work with you in any way possible." ______________ June
Issue of the Journal of Plant Tissue Culture and
Biotechnology is Out
Austin July 19, '05. The hard copy of the June issue of the Plant Tissue Culture and Biotechnology (PTC) has reached the GNOBB office. There are altogether 10 research articles of general nature and one review article entitled, "Circadian regulation of chloroplast gene transcription" by Prof. David Herrin and his student, Rachel W. Misquitta at the department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, UT, Austin. If extra data are available, Forum members are encouraged to submit their papers for publication in the above journal including "Review Papers, Book Reviews and Recent News." The next issue is due on the 31st of December, 05. Papers are accepted until the last date of November, 05. Furthermore, all articles are published online and 25 reprints are given free per article regardless whether there is one or more than one authors for an article.
Eid Mubarak (Eidul-Adha) |
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