Bio-informatics Special

Feature of the month
UP Evolving as Bio-Tech And Bio-Informatics Hub of the country

With in last few quarters there is so much transmutation going around in the Bio-Technology and Bio-Informatics area in our state, that we should now start smelling the next logical revolution already standing on our doors. Government seems to let this man in. First it was Bio-Tech Park at ITRC, LKO in May 2003 and now it is Biological Science and Bio-Engineering complex at IIT, Kanpur in October 2003, both inaugurated by our Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee are both state of the art centers supported by Govt of India. The major research areas shall include Genomics, Bio-Informatics, Bio-remediation, Bio-fuels, Renewable Energy Resources etc.

Bio-Technology and Bio-Informatics are likely to be next major technology focus area for industry leaders in the world too. IT could find a major transformation in its usage from mechanical and business oriented things to real human applications. Are IT enthusiasts and educators in India Listening?.

IT-Quote

"Bioinformatics is a mixture of the mundane and the sublime."
-Nathan Siemers-
“ Science is not about control. It is about cultivating a perpetual condition of wonder in the face of something that forever grows one step richer and subtler than our latest theory about it. It is about reverence, not mastery.”
-Francis Bacon-

IT-Personality of the Month

Tejal Desai, the 31-year-old Indian associate professor in biomedical engineering at Boston University, was recently honoured by `Popular Science' magazine as one of the 10 most brilliant scientists in America for 2003.
Recognition came to her after working for four years to make cells grow on chemically modified surfaces. She developed a microscopic device that when, implanted in diabetic rats delivered ongoing, regular doses of insulin. This would eliminate the diabetic patient from taking daily injections of insulin. Her basic goal is to make artificial vessels that coax the diabetic patients own body to grow replacements, then biodegrade leaving the new, natural vessels behind. 
An Ohio-based company called iMEDD has licensed the technology from Berkeley and is performing animal studies before the product is finally available for human beings.
Her other interests include K-12 education outreach,gender and science education, science policy issues and bioengineering industrial outreach. We wish her luck for successful completion of her project, which will be a boon to mankind.

IT Snippets
Use DNA Ink To Prevent Forgery

A Japanese company has announced the creation of DNA ink that will allow people to sign documents with great security by using their genetic information to prevent forgery.

The product will help people secure such legal documents as wills, as well as help guarantee the authenticity of autographs for such things as paintings.

ID Technica will take DNA from clients and use it to create synthetic DNA that carries unique sequences but no information about such things as genetic diseases. Light reflecting particles will be mixed with the synthetic DNA to make ink. An ink-reading device that uses infrared rays will determine whether signatures are genuine.

The company says that one kilogram of ink will cost two million yen (about Rs. 760,00) while the reading device will cost 100,000yen(about Rs. 38,000).

(Source: www.technologyreview.com)

Software Puts Faces On Skulls

Researchers from the Max Plank Institute for Computer Science in Germany have used an anatomy-based approach for facial modeling and animation., and realized that the method could be inverted to construct a muscle layer and skin over a skull.

The researcher's program allows users to attach markers, or landmarks, that are correlated with statistical tissue depth measurements to a three-dimensional skull model generated from a skull scan. 

Virtual muscles that control the model's animation are then connected to the skull and to skin surface. When the muscles move, they also change the skin layer, easily producing different facial expressions. The model can be edited by changing the location of the landmarks.

The approach is simpler than existing computerized techniques that maintain databases of faces that are selected , then warped to match depth markers on skull.

(Source: www.technologyreview.com)

e-Nose

Researchers at the University of Rome are developing an electronic nose that can sniff out cancer by sampling people's breath. The instrument uses sensors that respond to the presence of chemical compounds in the patient's breath.

The sensors are quartz crystal sensors coated with a substance that binds to a range of organic chemicals. If certain molecules in the breath bind to this surface coating they change the natural vibration frequency of the crystal.

Scientists tested the e-nose on 60 people at the Forlanini Hospital on Rome. Each test took just over a minute and the nose successfully pinpointed every cancer patient, according to New Scientist. Experts are now looking at ways of boosting the nose's sensitivity to the point where it can detect tumours at an early stage.

(Source: www.technologyreview.com)

Web Watch
http://www.inbios.org

Inbios, or Bioinformatics Society of India, is a registered non-profit society that has been set up to promote the rapidly emerging field of bioinformatics in India. The goals of this society are to promote awareness of bioinformatics and related disciplines in India and to serve as a resource for those aspiring to pursue this field. In addition, Inbios will strive to serve as a bridge between the industry and the academia to ensure that India will become a major hub for bioinformatics in the near future. The persons involved in running this ambitious effort are either eminent scientists, bioinformatics researchers or professionals in the field of life sciences and information technology. They are all volunteering their time 
to help lay a strong foundation for the future of bioinformatics in India.

INBIOS, the society for bioinformatics, is the brainchild of Mr. Ashwin Sivakumar. The inspiration for this came from the tremendous impact that International society of Computational Biology had on this field. It basically started out as a voluntary group of 7 at the IISc campus, with an overwhelming urge to contribute onto this field especially by helping out students venturing into it and also by creating public awareness about bioinformatics. 

This society is aimed at making Bioinformatics a long term success in India. The current growing interests and trends will have serious repercussions in the years to come. This society is basically aimed at being a bridge between the Educational and Corporate sector. It will strive towards catering the needs of the aspiring learners of this field by creating a genuine awareness and to attain perfection to set a benchmark in Bioinformatics. 

IT Humour

The Retirement Party

The boss is finally old enough to retire from the company. On his last day of work, he ordered a farewell party for himself. The boss wanted everyone to express their good feeling about him by writing on the farewell card, so later he could remember how his staff "miss" him. 

Most people are writing standard phrases like, "Without you, the company will never be the same," 

"We will always remember you," etc. 

Obviously the boss was not satisfied. "I need something from the bottom of your heart, something really touching, you know. Okay, Rahul, you have been working with me for the last 20 years. You are my best staff. I am retiring now. What do you have to say?" 

Slowly but firmly, Rahul wrote, "THE BEST NEWS IN 20 YEARS."