harper@cc.helsinki.fi (03/03/90)
1414141414 1414141414
1414141414 1414141414
1414 1414 1414 1414141414 1414 1414 1414 141414141414
14141414 1414141414 14141414 141414141414
14141414 1414 1414 1414 14141414 1414 1414
1414 1414 1414 1414 1414 1414 1414 1414 1414
1414141414 1414 1414141414 1414141414 1414 1414
1414141414 1414 1414141414 1414141414 1414 1414
No 14
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
INDEPENDANT NEWSLETTER PRODUCED AT HELSINKI UNIVERSITY, FINLAND
<< EDITED BY ROBERT HARPER >>
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
I am still working on BioBit's for ANU NEWS and PORTACOM. In the mean
time here is some interesting information regarding the International
Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) which is based
in Trieste Italy.
So how was this edition of BioBit put together? Well it was your basic
shotgun interview... I posted "loaded" questions to Mark Vandeyar who runs
the computer operation at ICGEB, and he came up with the answers.
Briefly this edition of BioBit deals with the history of ICGEB, and how it
has developed. Additionally it gives some information on the the hardware
they have, and also gives an outline of the courses that ICGEB sponsors
If you have any questions about ICGEB then please direct them to Mark.
His BITNET/EARN address is at the bottom of this message.
The lowdown on GOS is also in the pipeline so it should be coming up
pretty soon ( Don't you just hate acronyms when you do not know what
they stand for ED.)
Anyway I find it interesting to know what is happening in different
parts of the world. So if you have some "big text" that you think might
make up an edition of BioBit then do not hesitate to send it to me at
HARPER@FINFUN.BITNET, or if you have some subject that you would like
to see covered then drop me a note, and I will see what I can put
together. One final footnote... BIONAUTS will be established real
soon, and now for ICGEB........
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
% I C G E B %
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
In 1981 the United Nations Industrial Development Organization
(UNIDO) convened a panel of distinguished scientists to consider the
issue of transfering biotechnology know-how to the developing world.
The result was a proposal to establish the International Centre for
Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) as a centre of
excellence which would provide a forum for scientists from both the
developed and developing world and an environment conducive to
research of an international standard. In 1982 the concept was
approved by a ministerial-level conference of developed and
developing nations and the first steps to establish the Centre were
taken in 1983 when the Statutes of ICGEB were signed by 26 countries.
To-date, 41 countries have signed the Statutes.
A Panel of Scientific Advisors together with the Preparatory
Committee, consisting of representatives from ICGEB Member Countries,
have guided the establishment and subsequent development of ICGEB
under the aegis of UNIDO. Several countries, from the developed and
developing world, made offers to host the Centre. The joint proposal
of Italy and India was finally chosen as being the most generous and
appropriate to achieve the Centre's objectives.
In order to initiate the establishment of ICGEB, the Preparatory
Committee launched an interim programme that ran over a three-year
period from 1986 to 1989. During this period, under the supervision
of the first Director, Prof. I. C. Gunsalus, ICGEB established two
component laboratories, one in Trieste (Italy) and the other in New
Delhi (India). In July 1989, under the leadership of the new
director, Prof. Arturo Falaschi, a Five Year Programme with a budget
of US$56,000,000 was initiated to allow for the continued development
of the Centre's facilities and the recruitment of staff over the
period, 1989 to 1994.
The Trieste component is located in the scientific park of the
Trieste Research Area. Presently, the ICGEB Trieste laboratories are
housed in 1,000 m2, but is being augmented by the construction of new
facilities, bringing the total area of occupancy to over 6,000 m2 by
1991. The New Delhi component currently occupies interim facilities
of approximately, 1,200 m2 at the National Institute of Immunology,
pending completion of permanent facilities of 10,000 m2. The capital
and operating costs of the two components are borne by the
governments of Italy and India.
In keeping with the aims of ICGEB and through a process of
consultation involving the Preparatory Committee, the Panel of
Scientific Advisors, and scientists from the Member Countries, the
following research groups were established:
A. ICGEB, Trieste
1. Virology, Molecular and Cellular Biology
2. Immunology
3. Pharmacology
4. Protein Structure and Function
5. Microbiology
B. ICGEB, New Delhi
1. Plant Biology
2. Human Parasitology and Virology
3. Structural Biology
Each group is headed by a senior scientist and is composed of two to
three junior scientist, plus a number of trainee fellows (selected
from Member Countries) and technicians.
In addition to its two component sites, ICGEB is associated with 13
Affiliated Centres in Member Countries. These are established
research institutes which have attained a demonstrably high standard
of research, and have entered into a special research and training
relationship with ICGEB. As part of this relationship, each
Affiliated Centre may submit research proposals for funding under the
ICGEB Collaborative Research Programme. ICGEB awards research grants
to a level of US$105,000 over a period of three years. These grants
provide up to US$35,000 per annum for the purchases of expendable
laboratory supplies and small items of equipment, as well as for
transportation of personnel between collaborating laboratories.
The mission of ICGEB also includes the strengthening of the research
capabilities of its 41 Member Countries through training activities
and services.
The scientific training consists of long and short term programmes.
The long-term programme involves post-doctoral fellowships that are
tenable at either the Trieste or New Delhi components. ICGEB also
offers post-doctoral training in conjunction with various Italian
Institutes of higher education. A pre-doctoral training programme in
Trieste and New Delhi, in conjunction with local universities, is at
an advanced stage of planning.
The short-term training focuses on specialized topics and techniques.
This is achieved through workshops, practical courses and meetings.
An example of a short-term training course is the "Practical Course
Computer Applications in Molecular Biology" organized by Prof. Doug
Brutlag, held in Trieste. The 1990 short-term training programme is
attached.
In addition to the research and training programmes, ICGEB also
provides a wide range of service to its Member Countries. The ICGEB
Computer Resource for Molecular Biology (ICGEBnet) is one of these
services.
Computer networks play a major role in biotechnology; active
researchers increasingly need to access remote databases, to
retrieve, submit and share data, and to access central
high-performance computing facilities. Since there will never be
enough high-performance computers to go around, the role of the
computer network becomes even more important as they provide access
to the facilities that the majority of institutions need, but
otherwise cannot afford.
In addition, scientific research has always relied on communication
for gathering and exchanging data, for holding discussions and for
collaborating with widely dispersed researchers. The pace and
complexity of modern molecular biology, especially the collaboration
of researchers in different countries has dramatically increased the
scientist's communications needs.
Computer networks provide the base that can combine dispersed
researchers, computing sources, and information into a single
integrated computer and communications environment. Thus, to sustain
and enhance scientific progress within the ICGEB community, the
ICGEBnet Computer Resource is being established.
ICGEBnet will establish a central interactive, timesharing computer
facility based on a SUN UNIX 4/390 SPARCserver. The initial system
configuration will contain 32 MBytes of RAM and 1 GByte of mass
storage disk space.
In addition to the SUN 4/390, ICGEB will also share with the
International Centre for Chemistry (ICC), the use of a high
performance Silicon Graphics 4D/210 GTX modelling workstation.
The principal mechanism for remote access to the ICGEBnet resource
will be via the Public Data Networks (PDNs). ICGEBnet will be
connected to the ITAPAC X.25 network via a leased data communication
line allowing for 16 simultaneous in-coming connections. For those
users who do not have access to an X.25 PDN, ICGEB will be provided
access via direct dial telephone modems connected to the ICGEBnet
network.
In addition to the above connections, ICGEBnet will also be connected
to other wide-area networks, such as EARN (Bitnet) and the TCP/IP
based Internet. These connections will provide users of ICGEBnet
with access to electronic mail, file transfer and electronic bulletin
board facilities and the ability to access remote computers on the
Internet. The Internet connection will be especially valuable for
connecting ICGEBnet to the GenBank and EMBL computer facilities.
These services will be required for receiving daily updates of the
sequence databases.
ICGEBnet will provide access to the Intelligenetics Suite, an
integrated package of molecular biology programmes, supplying all the
major functions for sequence analysis including: sequence entry and
editing, DNA gel fragment assembly, sequencing project management,
protein and nucleic acid sequence analyses, similarity searching,
pattern recognition searching, restriction mapping and cloning
simulation.
For the modelling of protein structures the INSIGHT and DISCOVER
packages will be available for use with the ICGEB/ICC Silicon
Graphics computer.
Since the majority of the ICGEBnet users will have access to
personal computers, they will also be seeking methods to use their
personal computers to effectively access ICGEBnet. ICGEBnet will
strongly support this method of access by providing an on-line
library of software and documentation, for file transfer and terminal
emulation programmes.
In addition, several molecular biology programmes for both the
Macintosh and the IBM PC will be available from the on-line library.
These programmes will allow users to perform many routine analyses on
their local personal computers, including the preparation of their
data for the more extensive analyses available at ICGEBnet. We will
also encourage users to submit programmes developed within the ICGEB
community for distribution on ICGEBnet.
The plans for the implementation of ICGEBnet are well underway. The
necessary equipment has been ordered and is expected to be installed
and operational by the beginning of April 1990.
Development through international co-operation offers an important
mechanism through which to realize the benefits of biotechnology.
ICGEB together with its research, training and service components is
making a progressive and comprehensive contribution to the
strengthening of the scientific and technological capabilities of its
Member Countries.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Further information on ICGEB can be obtained from the following
address:
Office of the Director
ICGEB Padriciano 99
Trieste 34012
Italy
Tel: +39 40 226031
Fax: +39 40 226555
Telex: 460396 ICGEBT I
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
ICGEB MEETINGS AND COURSES 1990
____________________________________________________________
Symposium: MOLECULAR AND GENETIC APPROACHES TO PLANT STRESS
New Delhi, India, 14-17 February
John Bennett, ICGEB (co-sponsored:Rockefeller Foundation
Australian International Development Assistance Bureau)
____________________________________________________________
Theoretical Course:BACTERIAL GENETICS
Trieste, Italy, 23-29 March
Thomas J. Silhavy, Princeton
____________________________________________________________
Practical Course:MODERN TECHNIQUES IN NUCLEIC ACID
AND PROTEIN SYNTHESIS AND ANALYSIS
New Delhi, India, 26 March-17 April
Hartmut Seliger, Ulm
____________________________________________________________
Theoretical Course: YEAST MOLECULAR GENETICS
Trieste, Italy, 9-13 April
Glauco Tocchini-Valentini, Rome
____________________________________________________________
Colloquium: EUKARYOTIC GENE REGULATION AND EXPRESSION
Heraklion, Greece, 22-24 May
Joseph Papamatheakis, Heraklion
____________________________________________________________
Practical Course: DIAGNOSIS OF PARASITIC DISEASES
Caracas, Venezuela, 19 June-16 July
Hilda A. Perez, Caracas
____________________________________________________________
Practical Course: TECHNIQUES IN HUMAN GENOME RESEARCH
Santiago, Chile, 10-30 June
Juan Olate & Omar Orellana, Santiago
____________________________________________________________
Colloquium: LIGNIN: STRUCTURE, BIODEGRADATION AND
PRACTICAL UTILIZATION
Trieste, Italy, 26-28 June
Ephraim Katchalski-Katzir, Tel Aviv
____________________________________________________________
Practical Course: COMPUTER APPLICATIONS IN MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
Trieste, Italy, 16-27 July
Douglas Brutlag, Stanford
____________________________________________________________
Colloquium: DIAGNOSTIC APPROACHES TO SCHISTOSOMIASIS
Beijing, China, 5-7 November
Robert Bergquist, Geneva
(Joint with WHO/TDR)
____________________________________________________________
Theoretical Course: MOLECULAR VIROLOGY
Trieste, Italy, 4-11 November
Paolo Amati, Rome
___________________________________________________________
Practical Course: MOLECULAR BASIS OF PROTOZOAN PARASITISM
New Delhi, Italy, 5-30 November
Fred A.S. Kironde, ICGEB
____________________________________________________________
CONTACT PERSON ( Courses )
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Information: c/o Ms. Diana Viti, ICGEB, Padriciano 99,
I-34012, Trieste, Italy.
Telephone +39 40 2260333,
Telex 460396 ICGEBT I,
Fax +39 40 226555
CONTACT PERSON ( ICGEB Computer resource )
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mark A. Vandeyar E-mail: LR4TS1H3@ICINECA2.BITNET
International Centre for
Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology
Padriciano 99 Tel: +39-40-2260332
Trieste, I-34012, Italy Fax: +39-40-226555
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------