Bangladesh Association for Plant Tissue Culture & Biotechnology (BAPTC&B)

Dhaka, December. 29, ‘10. On behalf of BAPTC&B and on my own behalf we wish you all a Happy and Prosperous New Year. May the coming year 2011 bring more and more laurels to your eventful career and fulfill all your cherished desire. To old and new members, we wish to tell how much we depend on you for all round success of BAPTC&B and the journal, namely, the Journal of PTC&B which is only of its kind in the subcontinent and is slowly but surely gaining popularity among its members and well-wishers.

Pl remember that BAPTC&B is your site and any improvement of the medium and in the quality of its journal is our combined effort and NOT any individual’s.

We need to make the website more user-friendly and attractive and for this we need your cooperation and regular payment of your membership fee. We know that payment of yearly subscription is not a big deal and you require us to remind you. So here is the kind reminder. Again we convey to you all Godspeed and all the best for the coming New Year. May your research output turn out to be more innovative and enrich the biotech world making us all proud of you?

Any suggestion(s) on your part will be most welcome and will be considered for adoption in the next meeting of the BAPTC&B. Particularly we need your suggestions for selection of volunteers who will be ready to review the papers and return the ms after the review is done within a month or so. Without your cooperation this difficult and thankless job cannot be accomplished to our satisfaction.

5^th December, 10. The 6^th International PTC & Biotechnology Conference concluded successfully. Including 32 foreign delegates there were 200 participants. When contacted some foreign delegates expressed their satisfaction at the arrangements. In the concluding session a set of recommendations were prepared. It is almost at the final stage of drafting and will be published at the GNOBB website as soon as it is completed. Dr. Andrew F. Roberts from the USA emphasized on the importance of focusing on a few recommendations rather than on many in order to derive maximum benefit out of these recommendations.

Prof. Hans-Peter Muehlback underscored the need of arranging training tailored to the need of commercial people so that the private companies and the NGOs’ turnout of tissue culture derived products meet the local needs and export a sizeable chunk to the outside world. The poster-session drew applause from the visitors. Three posters were chosen as ranking first, second and third place.

Dhaka, 3rd December, 2010. The Sixth International Plant Tissue Culture and Biotechnology Conference was held today the 3rd of December in the Dhaka University Senate Bhavan. Honorable Minister for Agriculture Begum Matia Chowdhury inaugurated the Conference.special Guests were : Professor AAMSArefin Siddique, VC of the prestigious University of Dhaka and Dr. Wais Kabir, Executive Chairman, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council graced the occasion as special guests.The participants were from India (22), Pakistan (6), Malaysia (1), Germany 2), Nepal (2), USA (3). The plenary talk entitled, "Designer of Crops in Response to Climate Change delivered in the inauguration session enthralled the audience. Professor A.S. Islam, the Founder President of BAPTC &B was awarded a Gold Medal for his outstanding contribution toward the development of Biotechnology in the country. In his acceptance speech Prof. Islam said his motto all his life has been, "Work is worship". Begum Matia Chowdhury underscored the need for all scientists to work together without hassle and not divided on any particular issue such as GM crops.She said, "we cannot afford to ignore any technology unless it is proved to the contrary that it is unproductive or hazardous to human health

Dhaka, 2nd December, 2010. Professor M. Akhtaruzzaman has breathed his last this morning at the BIRDEM Hospital after a protracted illness. He served the Department of Botany, University of Dhaka for many years till his retirement. Besides being a popular and conscientious teacher he guided as many as ten students in their Ph.D. under his sole or joint supervision. He was famous as a dedicated and a popular teacher. He published over 100 papers either as a sole- or single author 15 of which were published in international Journals such as ‘Cytologia’ and ‘Caryologia’. He wrote as many as five text Books in Bengali showing his deep-seated love for his mother tongue, Bengali. The title of these books are “Koshvidya” (Cytology), “Kosh-bongshobidya” (Cytogenetics), “Biborton bidya” (Evolution), “Projatir Biborton” (Darwin’s “Origin of Species” a Bengali Translation of the famous book on evolution. He has been vocal in establishing the rights of teachers. For a number of years, he served as the President of Bangladesh College and University Teachers’ Association.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed deep shock at the death of Professor Zaman. GNOBB conveys to his bereaved family members their deepest condolence at the death of Professor Zaman

Biotech Round Table Conference concluded with a great expectation.
Dhaka, the 15^th July, ’09. As announced the second Biotech RT Conference: Present Status of Biotechnology and its Possible Solution was held at the Centre of Excellence, DU. There were well over 100 guests who attended representing various research organizations such as BARC, BARI, BRRI, BIRDEM, NIB, ICDDR,B, universities, BRAC, businessmen, newspaper Electronic Media, NGO’s. Among the guests were also present Dr. Francis Zapata originally form Peru and a specialist in Plant tissue culture and biotechnology. Besides the Chief Guest, Architect Yeafesh Osman, the State Minister for SI&CT, Prof AAMS Arefin Siddique, the VC, DU was present as a special guest. The GNOBB moderator and Professor Ahmed Azad, on behalf of the community, made a fervent appeal to the State Minister to consider favorably the recommendations submitted over two years ago related to creation of an autonomous National Commission for Biotechnology, and giving an autonomous status to the only National Institute of Biotechnology in the country and creating public-private partnership to find enough finances to hire adequately qualified NRB's from abroad to man NIB. The State Minister made a clarion call to the biotechnologists that they should work being inspired by the spirit of serving the country and the population at the grassroots level. This spirit will bring them closer to the mass and they will come forward spontaneously to apply all the innovations that Biotechnology has to offer. More

Strawberry – A success Story from RU Tissue Culture Lab to Fields. Dhaka the 2^nd March, ’09. Today’s (the 2^nd 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.....
_____________

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.

Dhaka 20th Feb., '09. The December issue of the Journal of PTC&B has just been published six seeks later than the usual publication date due to reasons beyond the control of the Management Committee. However the delay has been compensated by its richness of global representation including China, Thailand, Japan, Iraq and a Mediterranean island and enlarged page numbers .that include a review article. As readers may have noticed that the journal has added one new feature. from now on potential contributors and directly submit their papers. The finally revised article(s) will be displayed online before it is time for a particular number to appear in actual print as a regular issue. To view the contents click here.

Dhaka 12th Feb., '09. GNOBB member Dr. Md. Aminul Islam has sent the following news about the opening of Ph.D. positions in Munich, Germany. All necessary information pertinent to applying for these positions are available if you click on here. The successful applicants will join an interdisciplinary research group focused on the identification of genetic dispositions for rare and common
disorders and the characterization of functional consequences of
mutations and variations, including :
- Disease gene identification
- Analysis of large scale copy number variations
- Next generation high-throughput sequencing (Solexa/Illumina)
__________________________
M.Sc. courses in bioinformatics and systems Biology in Imperial College, London

Dhaka 12th Feb., '09. GNOBB member Mr. ABMM Khademul Islam has sent the following news about admission in Imperial College, London on M.Sc. courses in bioinformatics and systems Biology. All necessary information pertinent to admission are available if you click on here. Please be informed that the courses do not provide any 'wet lab' research as part of their courses; it is purely computer based. Furthermore, the university does not have any finance for M.Sc. students other than for EU citizens.
_________________

Dhaka 6th February, ’09. A part of the abstract submitted by Ms. Suhaila Rahman, at the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, DU on the above title is reproduced. The essential part of the abstract is given below: Construction of a genomic library of Pokkali DNA in lamda FIX II was done and plaques containing identified loci implicated in tolerance were identified. Plaques have been identified using probes homologous to S-Ad methionine synthetase (SAM) and cation chloride co-transporter after two rounds of hybridization. Both of these genes are present with the ‘Saltol’ region. Clearly demarcated plaques of the two clones of interest were isolated for subsequent subcloning into TAC (pRTAC8) vectors for Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of large genomic fragments into sensitive rice. Two genes of the ‘Saltol’ region Protein Kinase (12.31 Mb) and Cation Chloride co-transporter (11.25 Mb) was amplified by long expand PCR system. But only the Protein Kinase gene of around ~7.2 kb of Pokkali was sequenced by using several sequencing primers. Bioinformatics analysis was done to find differences between indica (Pokkali) and japonica (Nipponbare) varieties. Many SNPs were found particularly in the introns and the 5´ UTR region, which might play major significance. After sequence alignment with the Nipponbare database, it was found that a big chunk region of approximately 500 bp from Pokkali sequence were absent from the upstream region of 1st exon. Read the entire abstract ;;;;
____________________________

Dhaka 8th February, ’09. Prof. Ahmed Azad publishes an Article, "The Biotechnology Solution in the 8th February edition of the Daily Star. Professor makes a clarion call to GNOBB members and other concerned scientists to follow up the article with letters to editors. The word limit for Point Counterpoint is strictly 800 words; so I could not cover the issue comprehensively. Points that I have missed could be covered in the follow-up letters and articles. We need to maintain the momentum as the government is in the process of forming the parliamentary committees and it would be pity if the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Biotechnology was not re-constituted. Please read the article in PDF format....
Dhaka 11th February, ’09. Here is another article urging the present regime to implement the recommendations submitted by the expert committee formed by the participants of an incredibly successful International Conference held in ICDDR,B, Dhaka in April 2007. Pl. Read the article and make your own comments....
_____________________

Sequencing of Sorghum Genome by a team of 45 Transcontinental Scientists
Dhaka 3rd February, ’09. Andrew H. Paterson as a Lead author and 44 scientists, affiliated to 21 institutes spread over the USA, Germany, Switzerland, India and Pakistan, completed an analysis of the 730-megabase long genome of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) and have reported their results in the 29th edition of Nature (vol. 457: 551-556). Using whole-genome shotgun sequence method they have determined the chromosomal context of 98% genes from genetic, physical and syntenic information. Unlike the C3 rice plant, sorghum is more photosynthetically efficient like maize, sugarcane and bajra (Pennisetum) in that it is a C4 drought resistant cereal crop, mostly grown in the semiarid region of the tropical and subtropical lands of India, Pakistan, and African continent. Furthermore, they discovered that a) approximately about genes in one third of its genome as revealed by genetic recombination data are in the same order and of same density as in rice; b) of the total No. of genes about 24% are grass- and 7% sorghum-specific. Another conclusion they arrived at is that duplications of genes of recent origin and microRNA duplications may have conferred drought tolerance trait to sorghum.
__________________________

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
_______________________

Dhaka Jan 7,’09. BAPTC&B members feel exceedingly delighted at the news that Dr. Enamul Huq has been promoted to the rank of Associate Professor with tenure. Those who watched Dr. Enam closely over the years know that he is an extremely hard working scientist having a number of Ph.D. students and postdoctorals in his lab. He has a well equipped photobiology lab where he and his associates conduct sophisticated experiments with the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Their research is aimed at “understanding the mechanisms of light signal transduction, specifically those pathways mediated by the phytochrome family of sensory photoreceptors that absorb light in the red and far-red region of the spectrum." Their results show that the phytochrome system, comprising five members in Arabidopsis (phyA-phyE), controls almost every aspect of the plant life cycle such as seed germination, seedling establishment, greening process and flowering time to name a few. He along with his associates have published a number of papers in prestigious journals such as Science, Plant Physiology, Plant Journal and Trends in Plant Science etc. GNOBB wish him Godspeed and resounding success in his research and teaching career and his further recognition as a photo-biologist concomitant with his elevation to the rank of a full professor in years lying ahead of him.
__________________________

Dhaka, 5th Jan., ’09. On behalf of the Department of Genetics, Shahjalal University of Science & Technology (SUST), Sylhet, its affiliated Genetic Society is organizing a seminar on a world’s most talked about biological science topic, "EPIGENETICS". Professor Haseena Khan, at the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Dhaka will be the keynote speaker at the function in the historic city of the saint Shah Jalal. The title of Prof. Khan’s talk is, "Epigenetics: New findings regulating gene expression".
_________________________________

Bangladeshi Population now at the World Y-Chromosome Database
Dhaka, 4th Jan.'08.Professor Sharif Akhteruzzaman at the Dept of Biochemistry & Mol. Biol. DU currently serving Dhaka Medical College as National Technical Advisor National Forensic DNA Pofiling Laboratory writes to Prof. Harun Yusuf informing the community that the Y-Chromosome Haplotype data of Bangladeshi population submitted by them to an international database, namely, Y-Chromosome Haplotype Reference Database (YHRD). has been accepted and now being displayed in their database. Pl read below the excerpt of that letter. BAPTC&B members, while sharing this great news like to congratulate from their core of their hearts Professor Zaman and his research associates, Messrs Shafiul Alam, Ahamad Ferdous, Eunus Ali, Tania Hossain and Mahamud Hasan for bringing this very important information into the international database YHRD of the biotech World. Click here to read the whole letter.
_______________________________

Young BB writes about conditions of our research on the Global Scenario
Dhaka 12^th Dec., 08. Out of a number of letters addressed to Young YAHOO Group of Bangladeshi Biotechnologists, GNOBB has chosen one which reflects a profound sense of frustration the young scientists are suffering from and a deep-rooted urge to develop this discipline in the country. Although ,not explicit, the hidden meaning of the letter is that provided adequate facilities for research are created in the country they would love to serve the country and NOT leave the motherland permanently to work in a foreign country. Pl. read the edited version of the letter ....and help to settle the minds of these young scientists inspired by patriotic feelings with your reply. GNOBB will be happy to post your answers.
______________________________
Development of events following the recently concluded symposium
Dhaka, 9th Dec., 08. Thinking that at east some of you would be interested to know the development of events following

the recently concluded symposium, I am sharing two imp. messages: the first is from Distinguished Prof. Dr. Ananda

Chakrabarty and the second from Dr. Abu Siddiqui, (a Sr. Res. Scientist at Johnson & Johnson Pennsylvania), who is

not only an expert in some of the fields discussed in the symposium but has offered his help in teaching these courses

every year during his visit to BD.

Prof. Ananda says that we need to have a dedicated and powerful political leader of the stature of Mrs. Indira Gandhi to take

interest and support our cause to build up and strengthen the industrial and economic base of BD.

He regrets that “no politician has shown this type of interest and dedication to help develop new technologies in BD.” We did

have a DU Prof-cum-politician in the Ministry of S&T. Unfortunately, he failed miserably because he was not dedicated and his

interest in S&T was diluted and divided between the scientific progress of the country and his own personal agenda. May I

appeal to BAPTC&B members to suggest modus operandi as to how BAS may be persuaded to “actively work to elect only

those politicians who have made firm commitments to promote S&T in BD.” More....
______________________________

Have we reached a Point of No Return from Reaching Our Goal toward Development of S&T?

Dhaka 6th Dec, 08 When there was an unexpected turnout of both non-resident Bangladeshis and local biotechnologists in the April 2007 International Biotech Conference held at ICDDR,B, our hope as rekindled thinking this time the bureaucrats would consider the recommendations prepared by the panel of experts selected from the participants. Based on the consensus, the panel critically evaluated the National Biotech Policy and made its recommendations to bring the BD National Biotech policy in line with those followed in developed and advanced developing countries. The document was submitted individually to the advisers of four Ministries: S&T, Agriculture, health and forestry.

As you may recall one of the major recommendations was the creation of the National Commission of Biotechnology (NCBT) with full autonomy under the PM’s Secretariat and establishment of Public-Private partnership in order to provide adequate salaries to highly qualified NRB’s to the posts of the Director of the National Institute of Biotechnology, Heads and Principal Scientific Officers of six divisions and sufficient funding allowing researchers to carry out the approved projects uninterrupted and without hindrance. Pl sacrifice a few moments of your valuable time in this sacred month of pilgrimage which demands our sacrifice which may spend in suggesting ways and means to transform the NIB into a dynamic vibrant institute so that its quality of its research and the fruits of the results emanating from it reach the common man through commercialization. Pl. click here to read more

Computational and Comparative Genomics Training Course at CSHL
Dhaka 3rd Nov., '08. A week long training course on, “Computational and Comparative Genomics” will be held at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL), NY, USA from Nov 5- 11, 2008. CSHL is a pioneer institute to promote teaching and research
in molecular genetics including genomics on a global level and periodically arranges training courses with the assistance of world class scientists in genetics and related science.

The course is designed for biologists seeking advanced training in biological sequence analysis, computational biology core resource directors and staff, and for scientists in other disciplines, such as computer science, who wish to survey current research problems in biological sequence analysis. The primary focus of the Computational Genomics course is the theory and practice of algorithms used in computational biology, with the goal of using current methods more effectively and developing new algorithms. Anyone interested to attend this course next year must apply within July next year. A limited No. of Scholarships that cover only tuition fees and local hospitality are available. More ..
___________________________

On Line Submission of Articles to the BAPTC&B Journal
Dhaka, Nov. 1^st ,’08. From now on prospective contributors to the BAPTC&B Journal may submit their articles on line. This feature to be found on the left hand column at the bottom on the Association’s Homepage (http://www.baptcb.org) will encourage plant tissue culturists and biotechnologists of the Indian subcontinent and those from local and NRBs to consider making this journal earn further distinction in the international arena. Now that this added feature of online submission has been introduced, The Management of the Journal hope that the well wishers and regular contributors will take its advantage. Any article as soon as it comes back from the reviewers will appear online allowing the authors to get their findings published immediately after its acceptance throughout the whole year. Make this journal your journal - the only one that is published regularly in BD for over 17 years.

You will have an idea the number of viewers who surf the website (www.baptcb.org) by scrolling the homepage of BAPTC&B down to the bottom of the page and clicking the word ‘Visitor’. Last March the last 100 visitors were from the following countries: Algeria, Benin, Nto be found at the homeigeria, Tunisia, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iran, Yemen, Pakistan, Finland, Romania, Sweden, Poland, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Papua New Guinea, France, Germany, Ukraine, Japan, China, Taiwan, Thailand, India (Delhi, Gujrat, Karnataka, Chennai, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Raipur, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh), California, Georgia, Texas, Mexico, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Dundee, Oxford, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Japan, multiple regions including Jakarta from Indonesia, Queensland (Australia), New Zealand.
________________________

Creditable Achievement of BD Scientists: New Rice Varieties Mitigate Monga
Dhaka 29th Oct., 08. Monga (near-famine situation) is a seasonal food insecurity affecting poor farmers in ecologically vulnerable areas of North-West Bangladesh (Rangpur, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, Gaibandha and Nilphamari districts), primarily caused by unemployment and lack of income preceding the aman harvest in the Bangla months of Ashwin and Kartik (mid-September to mid-November).

‘Monga’ will soon be relegated to the page of the history because of the outstanding achievements made by BRRI and BAU scientists in developing the three new rice varieties, namely, BRRI Dhan-33, BINA Dhan-7 and BU Dhan-1. These three varieties released recently, can be harvested during Monga period creating job opportunities for agricultural workers. This may also benefit the farmers doubly – a) lower production cost and (b) better sale price in the off-season, (cf. lower sale price during the peak harvest season of Aman in November-December). In addition, this will ensure continuous food security by early cultivation of vegetables and robi crops followed by planting of boro rice immediately after harvest of the new rice varieties. Please click here to read more.
________________

Dhaka,30th Oct.,08. The Executive Committee of BAPTC&B, in a meeting held on the 30th of October have decided to hold their one-day along Annual General Meeting on the 1st of December, The proposal made by Prof. A. S. Islam to honor Prof. Ananda Mohan Chakrabarty and Prof. Kalyan Das for their outstanding contributions to the field of Biotechnology by conferring on them honorary Fellowship of the Association was not accepted by the EC on the ground that it requires prior approval by the AGM and that there are many more Plant biotechnologists such as Professor E.C. Cocking, Dr. H. C Chaturvedi, Professor S.S. Bhojwani who deserve this honor before anyone else is considered because of their close association with the plant tissue culture groups of Bangladesh. Since its birth in 1990, none has so far received honorary fellowship of the Association.
______________

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.
_{_____________________________}.
Human genomic variation studies in Four Developing Countries for stimulating economic growth.
Dhaka 28th Sept., '08. GNOBB member, Prof. Naiyyum Choudhury has brought to the attention of members a series articles published in a special supplement of the October issue of Nature Reviews Genetics. The articles highlight the human genomic variation studies of Mexico, India, Thailand and South Africa with the object of stimulating economic growth and local health benefits. GNOBB sincerely hope that these articles in turn will prompt the policymakers in Bangladesh to initiate similar activity in the country. Read the contents of the letter.
________________________

University and Politics in the Daily Star
Dhaka, 26th Sept.,08.A letter to the Editor under the title, University and Politics, by the Moderator has been published in the Daily Star in its 10th Sept. Edition. It highlights the principal causes that have led to the fall of standard in both education and research in the highest seats of Learning in the country, namely, universities. The article suggests ways and means how to restore the lost glory of some some universities which was once the pride of the Indian subcontinent.
__________________________________
Congratulations to AA Sajib and Associates for their recent publications

Dhaka, 26th Sept.,’08. GNOBB feel extremely happy to announce the following two publications. In the first publication, Mr Sajib is the first author. He has recently joined GEB, DU as a lecturer. The details are given below. We wish him a brilliant future.

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 the biotechnologists in general and young scientists of Bangladesh in particular to put the country's in the forefront of Molecular Biology.
________________
The Current Issue of Science devotes a section to Plant Genomes and Biotechnology
Austin, 26^th April, ’06. The GNOBB members either interested or involved in plant genomes and GM crops research will find it interesting to glance through the special section on, “Green Genes” published in the 25^th April’s edition of Science. The section contains 16 articles on multiple areas of biotechnology and evolution of plant genomes. Most of the information given here is already known but scattered in a wide variety of literature. Thus, this section, written by experts is unique as it covers almost all areas concerning plant genomes and their application in plant improvement. More ....to see the list of articles and their summaries.
_________________
Opening of New Vista in the Genomic World: Genomic Sequence of James Watson
Austin 16th April, '08.The 17^th April issue of Nature publishes a mind boggling article captioned, “The complete genome of an individual by massively parallel DNA".

Plant Tissue Culture and Biotechnology Conference Concludes
Austin 13th April, '08. After three days of deliberations, the BAPTC&B organized Conference on Plant Tissue Culture and Biotechnology concluded on a note on confidence that the objective of the Association to harness the fruits of biotechnology is on its way to fulfillment, at the same time realizing that there is a long way to go before the dream of the biotech community is fully realized. Considering the short time, the Association had at its disposal to organize the conference, it was a big success. Thanks to Prof. M. Imdadul Hoque and Prof. Rakha Hari Sarker (DU) and their associates. Never before the Association was fortunate to have four NRB's available to enrich the PTC&B deliberations of which two were plenary lectures. Please click here to see the report of the Organizing Secretary, Professor M. Imdadul Hoque on the conference. To see the list of award winners for top four poster presentations click here. The second prize went to Bose Institute, Kolkata, while the remaining were shared by the Dhaka University- (first prize), DU- and Islamic University, Kusthia students (third prize), respectively. GNOBB want to express their gratefulness to Dr. Abul Hussam for providing funds making it possible to award the prizes. The recommendations of the conference will be posted here as soon as they are available. Let us work together united to implement the resolutions adopted to build up better Bangladesh. Please click here for more information.
The salient points emphasized by Dr. Md. Abdur Razzaque, Executive Chairman, BARC, on the theme of the Conference were the opportunities and hindrances that stand in the way of utilizing agricultural biotechnology in BD. He also traced the history and development of commercial production of Tissue Culture derived diversified crops and horticultural plants and compared the global status of transgenic crop cultivation vis-a-vis the scenario that currently exists in Bangladesh. He also discussed about the roles to be played by different regulatory bodies such as National Committee on Biosafety (NCB), The Biosafety Core Committee (BCC) and The Field Level Biosafety Committee (BFC) stressing the urgency that these committees should be fully operational in order to ensure genetically modified crops such as Bt brinjal, golden rice that will be released after containment trial will be safe and not present any health hazard to the public.

[Pl. read comments from one young scientist from Bose Istitute, Calcutta about the conference.]

Seated from left: Prof. Dr. M. Imdadul Hoque, Secretary, Organizing Committee, PTC&B Conference, Prof. Dr. M. Anwar Hossain, Dean, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Dhaka University; Prof. Dr. Nazrul Islam, Chairman, University Grants Commission; Dr. Md. Al-Amin, Vice- President, BAPTC&B; and Dr. Md. Abdur Razzaque, Executive Chairman, Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council.

Second Day of the PTC&B Conference
Austin 12th April, '08. The second day of the conference was equally eventful. It was the day of Professor Ahmed Azad, TWAS Research Professor and Professor Professor Swapan Kumar Datta now at Calcutta University. While the keynote speech by Prof. Azad was on, "Fostering of Sustainable Development in Bangladesh by Strengthening Molecular Biosciences Research Capacity and the Establishment of a Research-driven Pharmaceutical Industry", the topic of the lecture by Prof. Datta was on, "On Designer Plant for Drug Discovery and Human Welfare." Another notable speaker was Dr. Nasim Begum Mila from Tokushima University Japan. The topic of her presentation was, "Expression of peroxisome proliferator-activator receptor gamma and the growth inhibitory effect of its synthetic ligands in human salivary gland cancer lines." There were two scientific sessions, one on "Plant Transformation: Status and Prospect of Transgenic Crops in Developing Countries," and the other was on, "Biosafety and Public Acceptance of Genetically Modified Plants." One of the presentations was on legume transformation by Dr. Fahmi Hassan, a postdoctoral fellow from Prof. Jacobsen's lab, at Hanover University, Germany. The day's last scientific session was on, "Progress and Prospect of Commercialization of in vitro plants and Value-added Products."
________________________

First Day of the Plant Tissue Culture and Biotechnology ConferenceAustin, April 11. The BAPTC&B organized Austin 11th April, '08. The BAPTC&B organized Conference on Plant Tissue Culture and Biotechnology was held as per schedule in the Department of Botany, Dhaka University . The conference drew an impressive gathering comprising delegates and intellectuals from major public and private educational and research institutions of the country as well as distinguished NRB's from Australia , Japan and

USA

. Former Chief Plant Biotechnologist & Rice Breeder, IRRI, Professor Swapan Kumar Datta, credited for evolving indica version of Golden rice as well as a few other scientists from India also graced the occasion. The conference was inaugurated by Professor Nazrul Islam, Chairman, The University Grants Commission. The conference highlights were three plenary lectures: Professor Abed Chaudhury, an NRB from CSIRO, Australia spoke on, "Plant Breeding Systems for Increasing Agricultural Productivity." The topic of the first plenary lecture by Dr. Zaheed Husain at the Immune Disease Institute, Harvard Medical School was on, “Molecular Targeting and Drug Discovery in the post-Genomic Era”, while that of the third plenary by Dr. M. C. Kharkwal at the Indian Agricultural Res. Institute was on, “Mutation Breeding and Food Security: Achievements and Prospects.” The new concept and strategy elaborated by Dr. Chaudhury for increasing agricultural productivity provided food for thought. The first scientific session on, “Production and conservation of medicinal, horticultural, ornamental timber and other cash crops through in vitro techniques” was chaired by Professor T. B. Jha at the Presidency College , Kolkata. The poster session covering a wide variety of areas of biotechnology was inaugurated by Professor Ahmed Azad, an NRB from Australia . The names of the prize owners will be announced on the concluding day, the 13th of April.
_____________________________

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 and Biotechnology to its present status. It will be highly appreciated if BAPTC&B members and sympathizers or anyone interested in the development of plant biotechnology offer their comments adding, modifying or making suggestions for further improvement of this fast developing of this mindbogling science of the 21st Century. Read the story by clicking here. Read the Comments received from Dr. Parvez Haris.

_______________
Preparations for Plant Tissue Cult. Biotech Conference Near Completion
Austin, April 5, '08. All preparations for the upcoming Plant Tissue Culture and Biotechnology Conference from April 11 through 13, are almost ready requiring only last minute finishing touches. Among the celebrities who are delivering plenary lectures are: Professor Swapan K. Datta now in Calcutta University, Dr. Abed Chaudhury, CSIRO, Australia; Professor Ahmed Azad, Professor of Medical Biotechnology, University of Cape Town, South Africa; Dr. Zaheed Hussain, Harvard Medical School, Boston. Dr. M.C. Kharkwal, Principal Scientist, IARI; Professor T. B. Jha from Presidency College Kolkata; Nasima Begum Mila from Tokushima University, Japan are also invited guest speakers talking on some exciting areas of biotechnology. Professor Nazrul Islam, Chairman University Grants Commission will inaugurate the conference as the Chief Guest, while Professor SMA Faiz, VC, Dhaka University will grace the occasion as a special guest. The Keynote address in the inaugural session will be delivered by Dr. Md. Abdur Razzaque, Executive Chairman BARC. Read the Program by clicking here.
_________________________
Top 100 Living Contributors to Biotechnology – Results of a Recently Conducted Poll
Austin April 3, ’08. Young biotechnologists often wonder about the great men at work whose extremely productive research took biotechnology to a level, never witnessed in human history. The latest development started in late 70’s of the past century - thanks to the ingenious and original work of a few dedicated scientists gifted with vision and innovativeness in the multitude of fields, namely, medicine, agriculture, bioinformatics, genomics, proteomics. Their unique scientific adventures backed by equally robust visionaries in legislation and business have made it possible to open up a vista in the establishment of the biotech industry for the welfare of the planet, not known heretofore. To honor these pioneers, Reed Exhibitions (a Division of Reed Elsevier) conducted a poll (their peers forming the electoral roll) to select the Top 100 Living Contributors to Biotechnology. The results of this poll have been published in the form of a brochure. GNOBB join with Reed Exhibitions in expressing their whole hearted appreciation to the Top 100 Contributors and also those not mentioned in the brochure for their outstanding contributions to the promotion and development of biotechnology. The brochure is only a click away from the readers.
_________________
Prof. Ahmed Azad, Abed Chaudhury and Dr. Zaheed Husain Attending the PTC and Biotech Conference at Dhaka
Austin March 17, ’08. According to the information reaching the Moderator, Professor Ahmed Azad will be attending the Plant Tissue Culture & Biotech to be held from 11 through 13 April. An invitation extended to him by the United Nations University to participate in the Framework Setting Dialogue on "Governing Science in Developing Countries" to be held in KL on April 7 and 8, has made it possible for him to come to Dhaka for the conference. The topic of his presentation will be announced as soon as it is finalized by the Program Committee of the Conference. BAPTC&B and GNOBB heartily welcome him and appreciate the gesture of Professor Azad who would be coming to Dhaka on his own from KL to promote the cause of biotechnology in BD. Dr. Abed Chaudhury and Dr. Zaheed Husain will also be guest speakers at the conference.

Dr. Zaheed Husain will talk on, Biotechnology Research in the Post-Genomic World. Dr. Husain is now in Malaysia as a Visiting Researcher, IBS, University Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
_______________________________________

Posters of Young BB at the PTC&B Conference to be Evaluated: Prizes Offered by Dr. Abul Hussam
Austin March 10, '08. The reputed Bangladeshi chemist , Dr. Abul Hussam, who won a million dollar prize for his innovative discovery of arsenic filter, has offered prizes for the best posters to be put up tin the forthcoming Tissue Culture Conference to be held in Dhaka from 11th through 13th April. The Plant Tissue Culture and Biotech Community of Bangladesh express their profound sense of gratitude to this generous gesture of Dr. Hussam. We hope that Young BB will take this opportunity to come up with unique posters expressing their innovative ideas and bag the prizes.

________________________________________.
Proceedings of the Intl. Jute Symposium held in Kolkata are available now
Austin March 19, ’08. Proceedings of the Intl. Symposium on Jute and Allied Fibers: Agriculture, Utilization and Marketing held in Kolkata January 9-12 have just been published by its organizers. Among the recommendations, the panelists recommended with one voice that the erstwhile International Jute Organization (IJO) should be revived forthwith to regain confidence of jute importing countries and providing them with quality diversified-jute-products. A program need to be worked out to balance supply and demand of jute and allied fibers and their products by integrating different stakeholders: production, processing, marketing and consumers as an end-to-end system. Standards for quality assessment of diversified jute products like geo-textiles, other technical textiles, non-woven etc. in relation to their end use need to be clearly defined and strictly adhered to for satisfying the international market. An international initiative for jute genome research needs to be initiated immediately with the objective of quality improvement including conservation, characterization and genotyping, involving all countries where jute genomic research is carried out. Read the two relevant documents in PDF format by clicking here for Proceedings and here for Jute Genomics.
___________________________
Effect of Gene Silencing without changing Nutritional Input on Honeybees
Austin March 28, 08. In an article captioned, "Nutritional Control of Reproductive Status in Honey- bees, via DNA Methylation,” published in the 28^th March edition of Science, vol. 319:1827-30,
R. Kucharski, J. Maleszka, S. Foret and R. Maleszka have shown that adult honeybees can be
induced to develop into queens with fully developedovaries by silencing the expression of DNA
methyltransferase Dnmt3. Their findings reveal that in honeybees (Apis mellifera)), it is
possible to direct the development of an individual of the same genetic makeup into a honeybee by
silencing DNA methyltransferase (Dnmt3), which stores epigenetic information. The above authors
have shown that the information as encoded by DNA blueprint can be altered by gene silencing that
mimicked the effects of royal jelly on the development of larva from its early stages. When Dnmt3
expression was reduced, the effect was dramatic. Even in the absence of royal jelly, larvae developed
into queens rather than into workers i.e., almost the same effect was observed as if newly hatched
larvae were fed with royal jelly.
______________________
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…

Scholarships are Available to do MS at BRAC University
Austin March 23, ’08. MS in biotechnology, awarded by BRAC University has been designed to turn out skilled manpower for both teaching positions in educational institutions and to fill up vacancies in biotech- and pharmaceutical-related industries in both private and public sectors of the country. Since MS degree in Biotech from BRACU is highly valued abroad, it will serve as a passport for you to do a higher degree including a Ph.D. both abroad and at home or even build up in you enough confidence to start your own entrepreneurship. Click here to read details about the announcement including the deadline to submit applications.
_______________________
University and Politics
Austin March 27, ’08. It is a matter of opinion whether to post in the BAPTC&B website the attached reply in response to a letter captioned, "University and Politics" published in the Daily Star (DS) in "the letters to the Editor" section, since the subject matter does not strictly fall within the purview of the objectives of the Association. 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.
______________________________
Prof. Maqsudul Alam had a Busy Schedule during his Stopover in Dhaka
Austin March 19, ’08. As the Guest speaker at the Second Congress of the Yahoo Group of Young Biotechnologists Professor Maqsudul Alam made a special presentation today, the 19th of March at the TSC, Auditorium, DU at 10 a.m. The Professor spoke on Proteomics, Genomics and Bioinformatics: A System Approach to Understand Microbial Life at Extreme Environment in a manner that was appreciated by all because of its lucidity, specially by the students of universities who came from all parts of the country, Khulna, Sylhet, Kusthia, Tangail where biotechnology and genetic engineering is taught. The theme of the Congress was: Biopharmaceuticals: Global and Bangladesh Perspectives. An estimated number of 200 represented the members of audience which included, apart from large contingent of student delegates from all over Bangladesh, distinguished Professors, Dr. Naiyyum Chowdhury, Dr. Haseena Khan, Dr. Zeba I. Seraj and scientists of relevant departments of DU and other universities as well as representatives from pharmaceutical companies and news media. Prof Alam answered a large number of questions posed by young BB on biotechnology and bioinformatics and presented some brilliant ideas around which future plans on biotechnology should be formulated. Click here to Read the program.

As announced earlier Professor also spoke in the afternoon at ICDDR,B on "In silico High Throughput Drug Screening and and Development of Leads Against Dengue Virus Proteins DEN2 and NS2B/NS3." Professor Maqsud is expected to leave Dhaka on the 20th evening.
_____________________________

Austin March, 16,'08. Prof. Maqsudul Alam presented his first mind-boggling talk this morning, the 16th of March on, "Bacteria Sense Oxygen from Physiology to Informatics to the Origin of Hemoglobin" in the auditorium of the Center of Excellence, Dhaka University. Among those present in the audience were: Prof. Yusuf Haider, Pro-VC, DU, Profesor Anwar Hossain, Dean of the Faculty of Biological Science, Professor Naiyyum Chaudhury representing Bangladesh Academy of Sciences, Professors and other staff members of the Departments of Biochemistry and Mol. Biol. (BMB), Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Microbiology, Botany etc.; and research and senior students where Mustak Ibn Ayub representing Young BB of Yahoo Group was also present. Professor Alam's talk created a good deal of interest among the audience. It may be mentioned here that the discovery of Prof. Alam and his associates has been patented. Later in the afternoon, the guest speaker spent his time at BMB.

--------------- As scheduled,on the 17th at 2:30 p.m. Professor Alam presented his second talk at the BARC auditorium on "Three Stories of Applied Research: Blood Substitute, Herbal Extract Against Dengue Fever and Papaya Genome: How We Did it and What We Have Learned. Among those who graced the occasion were member directors of BARC, scientists from BARI, BRRI, BJRI, professors and senior colleagues from BAU, Dhaka University, IPSA and other institutions. The meeting was chaired by Dr. Md. Khalequzzaman A. Chowdhury, Member Director (crops). The lecture was followed by a stimulating discussion which among others also covered the circumstances which led to the discontinuation of USDA-supported papaya project. The consensus was that the papaya field trial should start after the net house containment experiments are duly completed with no adverse effects on the environment. On the 18th morning, Prof. Maqsud is scheduled to meet Dr. Abdur Razzaque, the Executive Chairman of BARC to discuss about the papaya genomic project. The meeting between the two great visionaries took place in a conducive atmosphere. Later in the day Prof. Maqsud visited Bangladesh Jute Research Institute and called on DG and met the directors and concerned scientists. --------------------

Austin March 17, '08. In the Bigyan Projonmo section of the last Sunday's edition of Prothom Alo, Mr. Munir Hasan has published the life sketch of Professor Maqsudul Alam starting from his early life; and traced it to his phenomenal rise in academic and research career, most of which he accomplished in Russia, thereafter in Germany and now in Hawaii. He now heads the department of Genomics, Proteomics, and Bioinformatics, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu. In an interview with Mr. Hasan, the Prof. said that jute being the main cash crop of Bangladesh, its government and industrialists should come forward to finance the jute genome project. The Prof. said that unlike rice which has a huge number of varieties, jute has a limited No. of cultivars requiring breeders to depend upon the arsenal of the genes in jute cultivars for their improvement in fibre qualities, lignin reduction, their use in vegetables and medicines etc.; and that is possible only through the construction of jute genomic library. Completion of the jute project will not only help this cash crop regain its lost glory but also build up skilled manpower in the country and put Bangladesh in the World Atlas of biotechnology. Read the article by clicking here for page 1 and here for page 2.

It may be recalled that Professor Alam heads a team of 85 scientists who recently cracked the entire genomic structure of papaya and has agreed to explore the possibility of constructing jute genomic library on a global level of which Bangladesh will be an integral part. For the Lecture Schedule Summary Click here.

_________________
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 determinethe 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 constantsequences nor definite borderlines.” Andnow the ENCODE project has increased the complexity still further.Inthe most general case, genes can be defined “consisting of sequencemodules that combine in multiple ways to generate products.By focusing on the functional products of the genome, this definitionsets a concrete standard in enumerating unambiguously the numberof genes it contains.” Click here to read the whole article.
____________________________________
Number of Recent visitors surfing BAPTC&B Homepage
Austin 11th March, 08.With a sense of great pleasure, We would like to draw your attention to the fact that scientists of our discipline are viewing the Journal, PTC&B from all over the world. You can find it for yourself by scrolling the homepage of BAPTC&B down to the bottom of the page and clicking the word ‘Visitor’. It will reveal to you the number of visitors who have surfed our homepage (www.baptcb.org) today. To have a worldwide graphic picture country-wise, click By World Map on the left hand column under the section ‘Recent Visitors’. Underneath the map click 100, to see the countrywide distribution of the last 100 visitors. The last hundred browsers were from the following countries: Algeria, Benin, Nigeria, Tunisia, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iran, Yemen, Pakistan, Finland, Romania, Sweden, Poland, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Papua New Guinea, France, Germany, Ukraine, Japan, China, Taiwan, Thailand, India (Delhi, Gujrat, Karnataka, Chennai, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Raipur, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh), California, Georgia, Texas, Mexico, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Dundee, Oxford, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Japan, multiple regions including Jakarta from Indonesia, Queensland (Australia), New Zealand. Pl enrich the journal with your original scientific- or review papers to make this journal earn further distinction in the international arena.
__________________________
Upcoming Plant Tissue Culture and Biotechnology Conf.: April 11-13, 2008
Austin, March 1, '08. The upcoming Plant Tissue Culture and Biotechnology Conference will be held in the Department of Botany, Dhaka University from April 11 through 13. The theme of the conference is, “Opportunities and Challenges of Agricultural Biotechnology in Developing countries.” The 3-day conference will meet in eight sessions as follows: a) Production of horticultural, ornamental, timber and other cash crops through in vitro techniques; b) Micropropagation of medicinal plants and conservation of biodiversity; c) Progress and prospect of commercialization of in vitro derived plants and value-added products; d) Tools for crop improvement: In vitro techniques, DNA markers and sequence information; e) Status and prospect of transgenic crops in developing countries; f) Impact of biotechnology in agricultural and economic development; g ) Biotechnology in Pharmaceutical Industry; h) Biosafety, IPR and other legal issues related to biotechnology. In addition, there will be poster presentations. You are only one click away from the first circular.
____________________________
First Bacterial Genome Transplantation: Conversion of one species to another
Austin Feb. 29th '08.In an article entitled, "Complete Chemical Synthesis, Assembly, and Cloning of a Mycoplasma genitalium Genome" published in the 29^th Feb edition of Science (vol. 319:1215-1220), the Craig Venter Group of 17 scientists report of bacterial genome transplantation changing one species to another. The group created the largest man-made DNA structure by synthesizing and assembling the 582,970 base pair genome of M. genitalium JCVI-1.0. This work with Dan Gibson as the lead author in the weekly Science magazine is the second of three key steps toward the team’s goal of creating a fully synthetic organism. It must be mentioned here that the transplanted genome uses the built-in functional cell machinery of the host cell vital to DNA replication. The mol wt. of the synthetic M. genitalium is 360,110 kilodaltons (kDa). The base pairs of the synthetic genome, if printed in 10 point font, will span 147 pages.

The research to create the synthetic M. genitalium JCVI-1.0 was funded by Synthetic Genomics, Inc. Pl read the companion article by clicking here to have a better understanding of this monumental achievement.
_______________________
Prospect of H₂ gas Production on an enhanced scale from E. coli
Austin Feb 23rd '08. In an article entitled, "Metabolic engineering to enhance bacterial hydrogen production," published in Microbial Biotechnology 1(1): 30–39, a team of three scientists led by Professor Thomas K. Wood at the Artie McFerrin Dept of Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College station, TX demonstrated that it is possible to direct the metabolic flux toward enhancing hydrogen production 141 times. They achieved this seemingly impossible task by using isogenic E. coli K-12 KEIO library to construct multiple precise deletions in the bacterial genome. The bacterium has three active hydrogenases genes; associated with them are the regulatory genes called the formate hydrogen lyase (FHL) system. Hydrogen is synthesized from formate via hydogenase 3 at an accelerated rate. The above scientists altered the regulation of FHL. Several mutated genes such as fdnG, fdoG, narG, focA, fnr and focB mutations took part in re-directing formate metabolism, thereby removing hydrogen consumption by dehydrogenases. The newly created bacterium was christened BW25113 hyaB hybC hycA fdoG/pCA24N-FhlA. The strain produces the largest amount of hydrogen to date matching theoretical yield for hydrogen from formate. Furthermore, in the genetically modified bacterium, the yield of hydrogen from glucose increased by 50%. Wood's experiment has brightened the prospect of utilization of renewable hydrogen fuel at a comparatively low cost. Successful pilot experiment will pave the way of production of hydrogen fuel on a commercial scale mitigating the current suffering of people dependent solely on fossil fuel. Here is one area in which NRB biotechnologists can collaborate with their counterparts in producing clean hydrogen gas for the country at a competitive price.
______________________________
Intl. Symp. on Regulatory & Safety Issues in Commercialization of Biotech Res. in Developing World
Dhaka Feb 16, 2008.The preparation on the above International Symposium, hosted by BRAC University and scheduled to be held in Dhaka in December 2-4, is progressing in full swing. Among the speakers are well-known experts from all over the world: Francisco Baralle, Decio Repandelli, Mark Tepfer (Italy), Ulf Petruson and Bo Hieden (Sweden), Julian Kinderler (U.K.), Solly Benetar, Dr. Glenda Gray and Dr. Gita Ramjee (South Africa), Albert Farrugia and Dr. Abed Chaudhury, (Australia), Tim Caulfield (Canada), Godfrey Tangwa (Cameroon), Raimundo Ubieta Gomez (Cuba) Virander Chauhan, V.S. Reddy, P.S. Bhattacharya and Hari Subramaniam (India) and a number of local speakers representing prestigious organizations. They will cover a number of topics as shown: Technology Transfer Process, Biosafety, Clinical and Field Trials, IP and IPR, Regulatory Affairs and Bioethics including the clinical trials of HIV/AIDS vaccines and drugs in South Africa and Sub-Saharan. The community owes to Professor Ahmed Azad who was driving force not only conceiving this idea of organizing the symposium but also garnering international funds and renowned guest speakers for this Meet. For more information click here.
______________________________
December Issue of the J. Plant Tissue Culture & Biotech is on line
Dhaka, January 22, 08. The articles of the December issue of the J. Plant Tissue Culture & Biotech are now available on line including supplemental information if provided by the author (http://www.gnobb.org/Jute_Homology_table.doc). The hard copies will be out in a couple of days. In keeping with the current trend there are more and more articles (5 out of 12 in 17(2) in biotechnology in the last two issues of the journal. Many of our members are frank enough to tell us that they will consider to submit their articles to this journal, only when we shall attain international standard. We don't blame them. However, it reminds us of the age-old adage: egg first or chicken first. Submission of articles containing important research results will surely raise the journal's standard helping it to be included and indexed by ISI. At present it is indexed by Biological Abstracts, BIOSIS Previews, Elsevier Bibliographic Databases. We do hope that GNOBB members will bear in mind that together we can make this journal internationally competitive. According to GNOBB database there are more than 250 biotech SCIENTISTS working in Bangladesh and abroad. There is no reason why with this skilled manpower we cannot earn this distinction. Certainly it is within our reach. The contents of the current issue is only one click away.
_________________
Austin, Nov. 27, 2007
Dear BAPTC&B Readers,

First and foremost my profound apology to you all for having kept the site inactive for more than a year. It was a technical glitch that prevented the moderator to update the site. I mean it when I say because it's no problem for me to post latest news on plant biotechnology which in most cases will be a duplication of news that I post in another website, namely, Global Network of Bangladeshi Biotechnologists (www.gnobb.org). Fortunately, the problem has just been solved and I hope to keep you all well posted about what is new and exciting in the biotechnology Field. Following are some welcome developments which augur well in the rapid promotion of this emerging science in Bangladesh.

Some of you might have noticed that at the bottom of the homepage, the number of visitors who surf BAPTC&B is recorded. The company called, "Sitemeter" provides free service to any webpage seeking its assistance. Clicking the number of visitors will open this site showing the number of surfers that visit the site DAILY. Not only that: on the left hand column under the title, "recent visitors", you will see a section on the third row called "BY WORLD MAP". Click it and the world map, that will appear on your screen, will show the countries from where the website was recently visited. Below the map you will see opposite to "recent visitors" the figure 100. Click it and you will be amazed to see how popular this website is. People from even Latin American countries such as Chile, Brazil, Caribbean, Mexico, Iran, Turkey, Hungary, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Hong Kong, Philippines, Japan, Thailand, USA, Greece, Spain, England, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Ethiopia, Egypt, China, Korea surf our website. The fact that the journal is indexed by Biological Abstracts, BIOSIS Previews, Elsevier Bibliographic Databases has made the website popular.

Believe us, if we put our heart and soul together toward its further improvement, not only its standard will go up but we may be able to increase our revenue and who knows that with the extra money, we may be able to raise the number of publications from two to three. Pakistan J Botany now publishes three issues a year. Many of us still argue: let the standard of this journal be enhanced to an international level and then we send our articles here, little realizing that their contribution will enrich this journal and make it internationally known by being included in the "Current Contents". Then the evaluating authority, who recommend us for various academic jobs will have no qualms of conscience to equate the articles published in PTC&B journal and those in outside journals.

Conversion of Human Somatic- to Pluripotent Cells under Appropriate Gene Control
Austin, Nov. 24, '07. In online edition of Science (DOI: 10.1126/science.1151526), a breakthrough news on the use of human skin cells having the potency of stem cell lines was published in the form a report captioned, “Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Lines Derived from Human Somatic Cells”. In their research findings, twelve authors under the leadership of Professor JA Thompson (affiliated to three Madison- based research centers, namely, the Genome Center of Wisconsin, Wisconsin National Primate Res. Center and WiCell Res. Inst.) reveal that it is possible to reprogram somatic cell nuclei toan undifferentiated state by four genes: OCT4,SOX2, NANOG, and LIN28 and that reprogrammed human somaticcells behave like pluripotent stem cells, i.e., they differentiate into any of the three germ layers: endoderm, mesoderm, or ectoderm. Following characterize the transformed skin cells: they a) have normal karyotypes (chromosome morphology), b) express telomerase activity (an enzyme that regulates the telomere end of the chromosome), c) express cell surface markers and d) contain genes that confer them characteristics of stem cells, capable of developing and differentiating into advanced stages of all the above three primary germ- layers. Once the impediments such as blocking of mutation following viral integration and satisfactory solution of other technical glitches are found, induced pluripotent cell lines will open up new vista in drug development for cure of many advanced-age diseases such as Alzheimer making an end of the bitter controversy centering round the use of human embryonic stem cells.
____________________
Here is the Position Paper Prepared at the Last April Biotech Conference held in Dhaka
Austin Nov.28, .07. Many of us are both BAPTC&B as well as GNOBB members. For the convenience of those who have not joined GNOBB, and yet eager to know about the position paper ; i.e. recommendations that were prepared at the concluding session of the last April conference held in Dhaka, we request them to press the link shown here in highlighted blue font. You may also like to browse another nice website launched to mark the historic occasion where biotech scientists from home and abroad met for a three-day-conference, held from 6th through 8th of April this year at the ICDDR,B auditorium. Another characteristic feature of this conference was that non-government organizations, pharmaceutical industries, news media covering radio, television and Newspaper not only attended the conference but also financially supported it with liberal donations. There was also an enthusiastic response for the government in as much as three advisers in charge of Health, S&T and Agriculture respectively graced different sessions as Chief Guests. In other words the conference proved to be an unprecedented success both in terms of quality of oral and poster presentation and a huge turnout of scientists until the last session where there was an in-depth discussion on national biotech policy. Since the conference received support of advisors from Health, Agriculture and S&T Ministries, it was presumed that the recommendations which laid an emphasis and utmost importance on the creation of the National Commission of Biotechnology (as an independent unit under the umbrella of the PM) on the pattern of Pakistan and India would be accepted without reservation. The lofty idea that worked behind the tireless exercise has been to reap the benefit of this fast developing science without being bogged down by the administrative red tape. Although not confirmed, it has come to our knowledge that out of three, only the Ministry of Health has favorably responded to the recommendations.
_____________
Eleventh Congress of IAPTC&B at Beijing August 13 through17
Austin, August 14, '06. The Eleventh Congress of the International Association of Plant Tissue Culture and Biotechnology (IAPTC&B) started on August 13 and would continue through 17 in Beijing International Convention Center. Eighty-eight countries are affiliated to this association that holds its Assembly every four years hosted by different countries by turn. The last Congress was hosted by the USA and was held in Florida under the chairmanship of Professor Indra K. Vasil. The Chair of the current congress is Professor Zhihong Xu , currently Professor in Griffith University, Brisbane.

Seventeen plenary- and 33 keynote speakers have confirmed their participation. The number of posters classified under 26 symposia are 1601. Besides posters, 155 papers will be presented under 26 different symposia titles S-1 to S-155, 6-7 sessions running concurrently. In the workshop on RNAi Research four papers will be presented and the same number of papers in the other workshop entitled, "Opportunities for Research in Agriculture Science in Canada." To know more about the conference, pl click the title. The biotechnology community will be interested to take clues from some of the papers/posters to be presented at the conference such as “ Engineering Plants for the Global Clean up of Arsenic Pollution (P-9)” by R ichard Meagher, USA in order to ameliorate the problem of arsenic contamination in both rural and urban Bangladesh.

GNOBB member, Dr. Kamal Chowdhury, Associate Professor of Biology, Claflin University, SC is attending the conference. He will convey to the President of the Congress warmest greetings from both non-resident and resident Bangladeshis and present to him the latest copy of the Journal of Plant Tissue Culture and Biotechnology; i.e., vol. 16, # 1. _______________________

Interesting Developments in Multitude Fields of Biotechnology
Following titles recently posted in the SciDev.Net website may be of interest to GNOBB members. All the four are in areas of biotechnology directly related to the promotion of biotechnology in our country. The first title, “ Bangladeshi farmers banish insecticides ” has depicted how without the use of pesticides Bangladesh farmers were able to enhance the yield of crops, once they were trained how to avoid using pesticides without crop loss. The second article, “ GM crops are compatible with sustainable agriculture ” allays the fear of adversaries of GM crops who fear that their introduction will do irreparable loss to the ecosystem. The third article, “ WTO says Europe's GM ban broke trade rules ” brings to the attention of the EU countries that they cannot continue banning imports of GM crops from countries like Brazil because that will go against the trade rules which clearly spell out that without clear cut evidence such an embargo cannot be imposed on import of food crops. The fourth article “ Genomics accelerates East Coast Fever vaccine hunt ”, epitomizes as to how the cracking of the genomic library of Theileria parva, a parasite that causes a deadly cattle disease causing an annual loss of about USD 200 million, has helped the vaccine biotechnologists to come up with eight parasite proteins that have proved to be promising vaccine candidates.
_______________________

Recent Publication of a reference book on abiotic stresses :

An important chapter was published in the book, “ Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Plants” by Springer, The Netherlands. Details are as follows:

Zeba I. Seraj, Laisa A. Lisa, M. Rafiqul Islam, Rokeya Begum and Deepok K. Das (2005) Genetic Diversity of Saline Coastal Rice (Oryza sativa L. ) Landraces of Bangladesh. In : Abiotic Stress Tolerance in Plants. Toward Improvement of Global Environment and Food. Ashwani K. Rai and Teruhiro Takabe (eds.). Springer, The Netherlands, pp. 229-244. Click the title to know what this book is all about and its contents.

Dr. Abul Ekramoddoullah, Senior Research Scientist, Tree Biotechnology and Advanced Genetics, Pacific Forestry Center, Victoria, B.C. sends the article, " Sharing Malaysian experience with the development of biotechnology-derived food crops.” . In case you are interested to read the article, please press here; the article is only a click away from you .
__________________

Austin Feb. 10, '06. Dhaka University Centre of Excellence has recently acquired a DNA sequencer. Interested BAPTC&B members are requested to contact Dr. Amir Hossain Khan (ahkhan@univdhaka.edu ) of the DU Center of Excellence if you have any suggestions or queries regarding the sequencer . Another scientist to contact is Dr. Gazi Nurun Nahar Sultana who will be operating the facility including sample analysis on the machine (nngazi@univdhaka.edu ).