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BIJU DHARMAPALAN RTICLE A EATURE F Man Who Changed the Outlook of Biological Sciences in India Prof. Obaid was born on 7 January hardly understood anything. But I was 1932 to M.A. Qadeer Siddiqi and Umme excited because it was a formal science, Kulsum in Basti, Uttar Pradesh. He unlike simple botany, where most of your completed his post graduation in Botany time is spent learning nomenclature and HE man who worked on the from the prestigious Aligarh Muslim taxonomy.” Tfunctioning of the brain, ironically University (AMU) in 1953 and worked in died of a brain injury recently. Prof. the University from 1954-57. During the Obaid Siddiqui, the man who is regarded period he was attracted towards DNA as the father of modern biology in India, which was an emerging area of research will always be remembered for his stellar then. contributions. In an interview given years ago to A man for whom science was a veteran science communicator Matiur passion and the laboratory a temple of Rehman, he said, “In the 1950s there was pious research, a great scientific leader hardly any genetics being done in India. In who conquered different disciplines of 1953, the DNA structure was discovered biology and changed the face of modern and professors gave us lectures, but we biology in south Asia, and above all a great inspiring teacher who guided A caricature by Prof. Obaid’s student, Dr Sukant and mentored many youngsters is no Khurana, depicting Prof. Obaid’s achievements more. National Research Professor Dr. in science. It captures bacterial conjugation, DNA Obaid Siddiqi, the legendary scientist, gels to emphasize work on stop codon and many institution builder and scientific visionary gene loci, adult fruit fl y head to show his interest in passed away on 26 July 2013 at the age of chemosensation and one of our combined studies 81, a dedicated researcher till his last day on learning and memory in the form of 3 petri plates of life. with larvae on them (Courtesy: Sukant Khurana) 19 SCIENCE REPORTER, OCTOBER 2013 FEATURE ARTICLE left: Prof. Obaid Siddiqi with his wife Asiya. Photo credit: Ms Diba Siddiqi (daughter of Prof. Obaid Siddiqi); Right: 1961 photo taken at University of Glasgow showing Obaid Siddiqui along with Jim Renwick (seated front right), Guido Pontecorvo (standing on the right behind Jim) and others. Early Days passion in Obaid and asked him to start the University of Pennsylvania as his first He started his career as an agricultural the work immediately. postdoctoral fellow. During the period, scientist, working on plant embryology At Glasgow he started working on the duo discovered the suppressors first at Aligarh and then as a wheat microbial systems – a paradigm shift of “nonsense” mutations. This work geneticist at the Indian Agricultural from plant system. As a PhD student, stimulated research on conditional Research Institute, New Delhi. During his while exploring linear relationship mutations of bacteria and viruses and research programme at IARI he lost his between different allelic p-aminobenzoic- was directly important to the discovery of test bed of wheat cross-breeds, carefully acid-requiring mutants of the fungus “nonsense” codons, the stop signals in the nurtured over a year, to a hail storm in Aspergillus nidulans, he observed genetic code. This work formed the basis 1954. The loss of the crop turned out to be marked concentration of the mutational of the Nobel Prize winning work carried a turning point in his life. sites in a small part of the gene. Later, in out by Robert W. Holley, Har Gobind Khorana and Marshall W. Nirenberg. His passion in genetics made him collaboration with Alexandra Putrament, write a letter to Guido Pontecorvo, who worked briefly at Pontecarvo’s Khorana, Holley and Nirenberg Professor of Genetics at the University lab, Obaid discovered polarized personally acknowledged the role of of Glasgow asking for a position in his negative interference through intragenic Obaid’s study. Obaid did not take the lab. Noticing the interest and passion in recombination. His classic studies proved study to its logical end of finding other Obaid, Pontecorvo asked him to come to to be the first reports of fine mapping of a codons that got others a Nobel Prize. But Glasgow for a personal interview so that gene or cistron. he was now being recognized as a budding he could decide whether to admit Obaid After obtaining his PhD from the star in the field. Obaid’s philosophy was or not. As soon as he reached Glasgow, University of Glasgow in 1961 Obaid to do science for the benefit of all and he Pontecorvo understood the interest and joined the laboratory of Alan Garen at was always slow in publishing. Prof Obaid Siddiqi with members of Benzer’s laboratory at Caltech, November 1971 (Photo credit: http://www.nature.com) SCIENCE REPORTER, OCTOBER 2013 20 FEATURE ARTICLE Prof. Obaid during the 50 year anniversary celebrations of Department of Biological Sciences, TIFR (Photo credit: TIFR) Starting a New Phase At TIFR, Obaid Although Obaid could have continued to established pursue a successful scientific career in the a small but United States, he was intent on returning strong bacterial to India, says Prof. Alan Garen. “Because genetics group. of his intention I was able to arrange for the renowned physicist and later Obaid continued molecular biologist Leo Szilard, who had his early work been a colleague of Homi Bhabha, to ask where he had Bhabha to provide Obaid with a position shown that and laboratory at the Tata Institute,” recombinant remembers Prof. Alan Garen who now bacteria inherit works at the Yale University. DNA of bi- When Homi Bhabha expressed parental origin. his interest to start a biology division at TIFR, Szilard recommended Obaid’s name to Homi Bhabha through a strongly to another, not preferring to become stories. Personally, I found it both worded letter. Visionaries don’t fail to stagnant in one area of research. He tried tremendously exciting and intimidating, identify right persons for the job, Bhabha to conquer new frontiers of research, and it took a while before it all fell into was no exception. Recognizing Obaid’s shifting from plants to microbes to place and I could take advantage of what potentiality Bhabha appointed Obaid to Drosophila. Obaid along with Seymor was truly a unique place….” start a molecular biology unit at TIFR, Benzer of Caltech identified different This group pioneered research amidst opposition from fellow scientists. neurophysiological phenotypes of three on the genetic basis of taste and smell That’s the confidence he had in Obaid. temperature-sensitive paralytic mutants in Drosophila, initiating a new field Thus, in 1962, a new face of biology comatose, para and sh, that exhibited of chemosensory neurogenetics. He started emerging in India. Obaid defects in the electrical activity of nerves explored details of sensory response, personally recruited staff members for and muscles. This discovery led to a sensory plasticity and trying to overcome his lab and initiated steps to bring back deeper understanding of the mechanistic the limitations of simple behavioral Indians working in various U.S. labs. This basis of neuronal function and heralded measures through detailed tracking of unit is the forerunner of the present day the dawn of the field of Behavioral animals. This research later triggered a Department of Biological Sciences in TIFR Genetics. spate of international research on how Mumbai. Siddiqi had become a popular figure genes affect sensory perception, learning At the Molecular Biology Unit at in TIFR within a short period. Great and memory. Prof. Alan feels that the TIFR, Obaid established a small but students like Kavita Arora and Late success in varied fields achieved by Obaid strong bacterial genetics group. Obaid Veronica Rodrigues joined his group. shows that India had nurtured Obaid along with his student, P. Vijay Sarathy, He initiated a wave of new academic well. continued his early work where he culture at TIFR, remembers Kavita Arora Obaid Siddiqi’s vision, creativity, had shown that recombinant bacteria who is now working as a professor in the and generosity have had a profound effect inherit DNA of bi-parental origin. Their Department of Developmental and Cell on the lives of many young scientists. “I work established the basics of bacterial Biology at University of California, Irvine, am privileged to have been among them,” conjugation and formed the founding “…… I owe my start in science to Obaid, remembers Prof. John R. Carlson at Yale principles of lateral gene transfer. whose lab I joined in 1980. A number of University. “It was Seymour Benzer This work provided insights into drug things stand out from my time at TIFR. who introduced us, under auspicious resistance and evolutionary biology. Intellectually it was an extremely rich circumstances, in the early 1980s, when environment – in large part due to the As Prof. John R. Carlson of I was a graduate student. Obaid kindly amazing group of scientists Obaid had Yale University says, “His life was that invited me to India, where he opened seeded at the Molecular Biology Unit. of a scholar with an overriding interest a new world for me. Obaid welcomed Another thing that set it apart from other in learning the principles that underlie me as a colleague and provided warm institutions was that the interactions his system.” Moreover, he set a sterling encouragement, writing: ‘…olfaction between students and faculty were not example by his courage and creativity badly needs some people like you and hierarchical. It was expected that people in forging new paths, by the elegance Drosophila seems as good to me as discussed science and ideas freely of his presentations, and by his devoted anything.