Obaid Siddiqi, a biologist who pioneered India’s entry into the genetics of behaviour and established the foundations of modern biology research in the country, died in Bangalore today after a fall and head injury. He was 81.
Siddiqi had set up the molecular biology unit at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, in 1962 and been the founding director of the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bangalore, in the early 1990s.
In the 1970s, he had begun studying the genetics of behaviour using the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, as a model. He discovered a set of mutant flies that displayed defects in the electrical activity of their nerves and muscles.
This work led to a deeper understanding of the mechanisms of brain cell functions and heralded the dawn of behavioural genetics, the NCBS said in a statement tonight.
A decade later, Siddiqi explored the genetics of taste and smell. These studies paved the way for an understanding of how senses such as taste and smell are detected and encoded in the brain, the statement added.
Courtesy│Telegraph India
Read this report │http://goo.gl/lpV9Wh
Siddiqi had set up the molecular biology unit at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, in 1962 and been the founding director of the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bangalore, in the early 1990s.
In the 1970s, he had begun studying the genetics of behaviour using the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, as a model. He discovered a set of mutant flies that displayed defects in the electrical activity of their nerves and muscles.
This work led to a deeper understanding of the mechanisms of brain cell functions and heralded the dawn of behavioural genetics, the NCBS said in a statement tonight.
A decade later, Siddiqi explored the genetics of taste and smell. These studies paved the way for an understanding of how senses such as taste and smell are detected and encoded in the brain, the statement added.
Courtesy│Telegraph India
Read this report │http://goo.gl/lpV9Wh
