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

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He was knocked down by a neighbour's moped ; but bereaved family will not press charges

Celebrated biologist Obaid Siddiqi, a scientist nonpareil whose pioneering work shed light on how taste and smell are detected and coded in brain, died on Friday of injuries he sustained in an accident two days ago.

Prof. Siddiqi (81), a National Research Professor at the National Centre for Biological Sciences here, was taking a stroll near his residence in Vidyaranyapura on Wednesday when his neighbour, a college student riding his moped, knocked him down.

Prof. Siddiqi was rushed to the Baptist Hospital, where he died of his injuries. He is survived by his wife Asiya, sons Imran and Kaleem, and daughters Yumna and Diba. Prof. Siddiqi’s family members have preferred not to file complaint against their neighbour, whose identity was not revealed by the police. Hebbal Traffic police said the scientist’s family did not want to file a complaint considering their neighbour’s career.

COLLEAGUES MOURN ‘GENTLE SCIENTIST’

Noted biologist Obaid Siddiqi, who passed away on Friday, was “an extraordinary example of how much a talented person can do, and inspire others to do, by simply following one’s scientific interests, unswayed by the tides of fashion and rewards,” the former director of the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), K. VijayRaghavan, said of one of India’s most decorated scientists.

“Obaid aristocratically strode through this quicksand of bureaucracy and the difficulty in getting resources. His eyes were always on the exciting future and this attitude inspired all to make light of current difficulties,” he told The Hindu.

“Quite often, people chase surrogate markers of success — awards and recognition — forgetting the initial passion that brought them into research.” But Prof Siddiqi’s life “is an example of how much can be achieved by adhering to principles, and, equally important, how much one can cause change by refusing to accept the many shackles of our system,” Prof. VijayRaghavan said.

NCBS director Satyajit Mayor recalled that Prof Siddiqi “motivated a legion of younger colleagues” with his “gentle but persuasive style,” a sentiment echoed by other scientists who knew and worked with him. He “always set an example for doing science at its most creative,” said Prof. Mayor.

When P. Balaram, Director of the Indian Institute of Science, first met Prof. Siddiqi in 1976, the latter was already known as a pioneer in molecular biology in India and for his specific area of research on behavioural genetics in Drosophila (the fruit fly). “He was one of the gentlest scientists I have seen ... he loved to talk about his research and work. He was always surrounded by people interested in science: people he mentored and influenced in their fields of research,” Prof. Balaram told The Hindu.

Twenty years on, NCBS, which Prof. Siddiqi conceived of as a scientific centre “to achieve excellence and to nurture fundamental curiosity,” is “testimony to the foresight of this visionary man” who sought to “explore new frontiers” in biological research. “We will miss our friend, philosopher and muse deeply, and hope to cherish his dreams and ambitions in the way we would know he would want us to — by building on the edifice he has left us, and doing even more creative science,” Prof. Mayor said.

Courtesy and © The Hindu