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 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------