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Chemistry symposium held in Karachi
THE 9th International Symposium on Natural Product Chemistry was held in Karachi from Jan 10-13.
On the concluding day, Prof Iqbal Choudhary, the acting director of HEJ Research Institute of Chemistry, announced the names of the recipients of three awards adjudged by a special panel, comprising three foreign scientists. The first prize, named after Prof Abdus Salam, went to Humera Naz for her poster on “New bioactive stilbene glycosides and tritepenoid constituents from Boswellia papyrifera.”
The second prize, named after Prof Salimuzzaman Siddiqui, the founding director of HEJ institute, went to Sami Jalil for his poster on “Assessment of cytotoxity and anti-inflammatory activity of some chemical constituents by using human nuetrophils based assay”.
Dr Choudhary said shields along with cash awards will be given to encourage the young scientists from different countries, who participate in the natural product chemistry symposiums, held after every two years at Karachi.
Syed Ghulam Musharraf was awarded the third prize for his contribution on “Microbial transformation of bioactive cyclic natural products.” The awards were handed over to the winners by Yasin Malik, member CPLC advisory board, who is also a managing director of a pharmaceutical firm.
Two special shields were also presented to representatives of two visiting delegations from India and Iraq. The Indian scientists participated in the symposium after a gap of six years, while the war-affected Iraqi delegation could make it after a troublesome process.
After receiving the shield, the Indian scientist, Ms. Uma S Palkar, said that she was highly impressed with hospitality and deliberations made at the symposium.
An Iraqi scientist said that the war on Iraq had adversely affected the academic and scientific affairs of the country as well, since the Americans have destroyed even the science laboratories during their operation.
Day One
Speaking as chief guest at the inaugural session of the 9th International Symposium on Natural Product Chemistry last Saturday, at Karachi, the Federal Minister in charge of Science and Technology and Chairman of the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan, Professor Atta-ur-Rahman, stressed the need for fostering stronger linkages among the scientists and researchers of different regions for benefit of human race.
The four-day natural chemistry moot was jointly organized by the Pakistan Academy of Sciences, HEJ Research Institute of Chemistry and Panjwani Centre for Molecular Medicine and Drug Research.
In his speech, Prof Rahman recounted the recent scientific developments in Pakistan. He said that the government was working on a plan to reverse the brain drain, under which 1,500 PhDs and other highly qualified people would be hired and brought back to the country during the next five years.
Referring to the participation of foreign guests and delegates, Ms Nadira Panjwani, the chief trustee of Dr Panjwani Memorial Trust, in her speech said that it was only through the exchange of expertise and collaborative efforts that the cause of science and learning could be promoted and its fruits could be shared with whole mankind.
She said that in Pakistan, where paucity of state resources impeded progress, resourceful and prosperous citizens should come forward to patronize science and education, in order to turn things around.
The Karachi University Vice-Chancellor, Prof Pirzada Qasim Raza Siddiqui said that achievements of Pakistan in the field of science and technology had set the pace for the developing world and were mostly because of Prof Atta-ur-Rahman and Prof Abdus Salam’s efforts.
Among others, Aziz Latif Jamal of the Hussein Ebrahim Jamal Foundation, Prof Dr Wolfgang Voelter of Tubingen University, Germany, Dr M. Iqbal Choudhary and the acting director of HEC research institute also spoke at the inaugural session.
Stipends for scientists: Prof Victor G. Kartsev, Chairman of International Scientific Partnership Foundation, Russia, presented a gold medal and honorary diploma, on behalf of the foundation, to Prof Atta-ur-Rahman. He said that the medal was being presented to Prof Rahman in recognition of his outstanding contribution to science and international scientific collaboration. He added that his foundation lately had decided to award three medals along with stipends to three most talented and creative young scientists from Pakistan.
Cooperation with India: Talking to newsmen after the inaugural session, the minister expressed hope that cooperation with India in the fields of science and technology would enhance with the passage of time, adding that relations and interaction between the two countries increased in other fields as well.
Day two
Prof Atta-ur-Rahman, in his presentation on “Recent Developments in the Chemistry of Natural Products,” delivered on the second day of the Ninth International Symposium on Natural Product Chemistry, informed the participants that the Pakistani scientists have developed more than a thousand products from medicinal plants.
He said the scientists working for the HEJ Research Institute of Chemistry had produced enzyme inhibitors, and cholesterol-reducing edible products. He said the main reason for the excellent performance of the HEJ institute was its strict adherence to merit and non-permanence of tenure.
Prof Yusuff Ali from Bangladesh, speaking on the downside of excessive use of pesticides and insecticides, urged the scientists present to help produce fertilizers and agriculture chemicals from plants.
Presenting a paper on “Investigation on Some Indigenous Medicinal Plants of Bangladesh,” he said excessive use of fertilizers and chemicals by farmers had caused a decline in the annual inland yield of fish, which was an important source of food for the Bangladeshis.
Prof Umar Ali said a number of products had been extracted from Cassia alata, Terminalia arjuna, Acacia catechu and Lac resin, of which many were found to be active against skin disorders and several had anti-bacterial properties.
Iran’s Prof Fareshteh Pour-Morad told the audience that Ficus carica latex, extracted from plants having medicinal properties, was useful against warts and corns. In preliminary clinical trials, too, more than 60 per cent of the patients were satisfied with the products extracted from these plants.
Prof Akira Tsuji discussed the significant role played by drug transporters and drug-metabolizing enzymes in drug disposition, focussing particularly on their potential use during the drug discovery and development process. Prof John Tyman shared his research findings on the technology and bioactive properties of phenolic lipids.
Dr Viqaruddin Ahmad of the HEJ Institute focussed on the isolation, characterization and screening of some new natural products on the basis of various biological assays. Dr Nuzhat Ahmed of the Karachi University said that eco-friendly bacteria were of paramount importance in many applications in biotechnology, including bioremediation, production of biodegradable plastics and bioabsorbants.
Prof I. C. Dutta of Nepal presented a case study, examining the antibacterial activity of medicinal plants and their contribution to livelihood. Prof Emi Okuyama of Chiba University, Japan, introduced his research on a couple of medicinal foods, such as logan, a fruit available in South Asian countries, and star anise, a common spice used in Chinese foods. Prof Marc Litaudon of France spoke about bioactive compounds from New-Caledonian, an overseas French territory, besides biodiversity.
Prof Bassem El-Menshawi of Egypt informed about drug discovery from Egyptian plants and also proposed priorities of research in the area of drug discovery from natural resources. Prof Hedvig Bolcskei of Hungary discussed efficient new derivatives, having few side effects. Victor G. Kartsev of Russia devoted his lecture to the chemistry of various unconventional natural heterocycles, their biosynthesis, biological activity, and mechanisms of action on key enzyme systems.
Prof Dietrich Spitzner of Germany reported about the isolation and structure elucidation of coloured compounds from some marine natural products. Other scientists, who made their presentations, included Uwe Beifuss (Germany), Bohari Mohammad Yamin (Malaysia), Bidyut Kanti Datta (Bangladesh), Mafel C. Ysrael (Philippine), Nam-In Baek (Korea) and Tahir N. Majid (USA).
Day Three
Prof Daniele Passarella from Italy stressed upon the need of developing anti-cancer agents with fewer side effects and improved activities against various classes of tumours. He said treatment with some approved cancer drugs of natural origin also resulted in a number of undesired side effects. While deliberating on "Nature as source and inspiration for the synthesis of new anti-cancer drugs", he shared information about his research on hybrid molecules with new binding affinity.
Dr M Iqbal Choudhary, the acting director of HEJ Research Institute of Chemistry, said that programmes of systematic drug development from natural sources were now based on the knowledge-based selection of plants, use of bioassay-screening techniques and working in a truly interdisciplinary environment. He also discussed some recently-discovered enzymes inhibitors and anti-oxidants.
He said that free radicals played important role in the pathogenisis of several disease, including cancer, rheumatoid arthritis and in the degenerative process associated with aging and neurodegenrative diseases. He noted that some of the diseases, caused by free radicals, could be managed by enhancing anti-oxidant defence systems. The discovery of new enzymes inhibitors and antioxidant compounds from medicinal plants would surely help overcome the cancer agents, he hoped.
Dr Rokeya Begum of Birdem, Dhaka, stated that diabetes had proved a devastating disease, while the World Health Organization had also warned of a diabetes epidemic in Asia. She informed the participants about mechanism of action of oral hypoglycemic fraction from plant extracts, which was being evolved at Birdem in collaboration with Chemistry department of Dhaka University.
Dr M Khalid Khan, Prof Pierre Vogel, Prof Tamito Hayashi, Prof Ichiya Ninomiya, Prof Philipe Taupin, Prof Hasnah M Sirat and Prof Barnard Boro also presented their research.
A segment of the symposium was held at the Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology on Monday night.
Prof Daniel Traficante (University of Rhode Island, USA) delivered a lecture on nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and its application in research.
The Chancellor of SSUET, Mr Z. A. Nizami, in his welcome address hoped that deliberations made during the four-day natural chemistry symposium would go a long way in enhancing the quality of research in the region.
Day Four
In his concluding remarks, KU Vice-Chancellor Dr Pirzada Qasim stressed upon the need of creating a bond of friendship with the scientists and experts of the developed world, which could lead to promotion of scientific culture in Pakistan as well.
Prof Karstev Victor Georgierich, Mr Yasin Malik, Dr Shahida Zaidi and Prof G A Miana spoke, among others, on the occasion. Earlier, about 20 research presentations were made at plenary and invited lecture sessions on the fourth and concluding day of the symposium, organized jointly by HEJ Research Institute of Chemistry, Dr Panjwani Centre of Molecular Medicine and Drug Research
About 90 foreign scientists and experts, against an expected figure of over 200, attended the symposium. Some of the scientists could not visit due to troublesome visa requirements, he added.
On the first day of the 9th International Symposium on Natural Product Chemistry, about 20 plenary and invited lectures were delivered. During the second day, 25 papers were presented. And more than 35 lectures, including three plenary lectures, were delivered on the third day. — Sci-tech World Report
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