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DEBTEC Development of Biotechnology & Environmental Conservation center |
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Ferdousi Begum Ph.D. Executive Director
Plant Molecular and Cellular Genetics Division, Bose Institute, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, India. (With specialization on Plant Genetic Transformation, Plant Molecular Biology, Enzymology, and Plant Biochemistry) Degree awarded in 1996. Master of Science (M. Sc.) in Tissue Culture, First Class, Masters Degree in Botany, Dept. of Botany, University of Dhaka.
The executive director of DEBTEC- Development of Biotechnology & Environmental Conservation Centre is said to be the Lady of Plant & Environment. She has finished her Hon’s and Masters in Plant Science (Botany) from the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh with the scholarship merit and first class in M.Sc & Hon’s, 1986-88. She worked on transformation of draught tolerant gene from wild Cruciferaea family to Brassica juncea through protoplast fusion & Agrobacterium transformation in Plant Molecular & Cellular Genetic Laboratory, Bose Institute under the direct supervision of Prof. S.K. Sen. Her paper has been published in an International Journal of Plant Breeding Research co-authored by Ferdousi Begum, S. Paul, N. Bag and S. K. Sen (1995). Somatic Hybrids through Protoplast Fusion between Brassica juncea and Diplotaxis harra, and their Backcross Progenies.: Theoretical and Applied Genetics (TAG)-(1995) 91:1167-1172 Springer-Verlag-1995
After submission of her PhD thesis she returned to the country and joined as a Senior Scientific Officer in Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission, Dhaka in 1995 and she was working there on Agrobacterium mediated transformation in Jute, in the genetics laboratory.
She was awarded PhD degree in 1996. She left the job from the Atomic Energy Commission and joined in the Science and Technology Department of Bangladesh Open University. She is always trying to pursue her research work for the well being of the rural people in Bangladesh and wants to make them an income generating group using their own national resources which are not yet recognized in the community. She always motivates the people for utilizing the natural resources in a sustainable and environment friendly way. She believes that Bangladesh is a very resourceful country. Bangladesh is not a poor country. Bangladesh has many natural resources like water, fishes, plant resources (medicinal plants, Fruit plants, Orchids, many other non-timber plants), livestock, climatic conditions, and the hard working people. With her belief and confidence, she has started focusing this idea to the common people using the Open University ‘media classes’. She has successfully made several video programs on the importance of medicinal plants and their utilization, tissue culture of plants, fish processing, and the utilization of algal resources. Because of her dream, she felt uneasy to do her work under the system and left the job from Bangladesh Open University. She had started her own journey with her own ideas and established DEBTEC-Development of Biotechnology & Environmental Conservation Centre.
DEBTEC was formally inaugurated on the 29th of August 1998, with a small lab. Its first inaugural seminar was on “Medicinal Plants for Life“. She started her uncompromising hard work with her own money. She started to collect the MPs and orchids from indigenous sources and tried to motivate policy makers, rural people, and the grass root people to utilize these natural resources to develop the nations with modern thoughts. She started culturing group meetings with the rural women communities in her village Laxmipur and established 10 medicinal plant gardens. They are unique in the country, giving continuous importance to MPs through the media. Overcoming many hurdles she could finally convince the prime officials of the Govt. of Bangladesh for the establishment of an MP garden the “Banyasarya” at the Prime Minister’s Office premises. This is a unique achievement in the world and is the replica of MP Garden of Laxmipur. In the Last two years (from 2001 to onwards) the MP program, is one of the prime sectors of national development program. She has been actively participating in all the MP activities of the Govt. of Bangladesh. In the field of Biotechnology which is her own field, she is trying to develop a research organization of Biotechnology and the business venture of different Biotechnology products like horticulture, fermentation, mushroom culture and the extraction of important MP alkaloids. Her idea is to involve rural women with the production of orchid flowers, MP and biofertilizer. She wants to establish an Eco-Village where the people will be self sufficient with daily commodities. She has been actively promoting in the awareness and motivation program of Biodiversity & environmental conservation. She is a visiting lecturer of PATC for the Govt. officials. During the training program, she tries to motivate policy makers and top bureaucrat people in the country about natural resources, biodiversity, genetic & environmental conservation in Bangladesh. She is involved with the Govt. for the policy making of different aspects (science & technology, health, environment & agriculture), as a committee member. She is also a teacher and researcher. She teaches at IUBAT and Uttara Women’s Medical College. She believes that by teaching she can share her knowledge with the young community and motivate them as well. She is a visiting faculty for doctors, where she motivates them for the revitalization of indigenous system of medicine. She is also actively involved with the Unani, Ayurvedi doctors and ‘Polli Chiktshak’ (bare footed doctors). She feels very comfortable to exchange the ideas with children, the future generation, and motivate them about the country’s resources. Often she is a visiting teacher for some schools and is involved with school’s science clubs. She also tries to educate the children about biotechnology, genetics, environment, biodiversity and global warming. She believes that Bangladesh is a small, beautiful, green country having knowledgeable people and resources. For dissemination of all these ideas, she traveled approximately 26 countries in the world to deliver lectures, participate different symposium, workshops, seminars and training programs. She was appreciated for her simplicity of expression. She is the Research Fellow on medicinal plants for Social Science Research Council under the Ministry of Planning, Govt. of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh from 2000 till now. She is a writer of science articles in different dailies and a good participant in the media like BTV and other private channels of Bangladesh. Whenever she was abroad, she was interviewed in different mass media like VOA, BBC, and the Hindustan Times. She is a typical Bangladeshi with modern thoughts and ideas. She thinks globally and acts nationally. She was born in 1961 and is a Mother of two sons. She dreams to establish DEBTEC as the number one research institute in the country where young scientists can work day and night for the well being of the country and the world. For her thesis, she has worked on the tissue culture of Banana. This research was conducted for the first time in Bangladesh with very limited facilities. She was successful in regenerating the plants through clone propagation. Prof. Samminathan that time visited the tissue culture laboratory of the Department of Botany, Dhaka University and saw her work and gave her the name of Banana Lady. After successful completion of her M.Sc thesis, she joined the Tejgaon College in 1989 as a lecturer. In 1991 she was awarded the scholarship from ICCR (Indian Council for Cultural Relation) for PhD research. She joined the Bose Institute, Calcutta which is a very recognized and prestigious institute in India and the whole world. She conducted the research on Introgression of desirable attributes contained in the widely related Crucifers into Brassica juncea through protoplast fusion (genetic Transformation) under the supervision of the famous scientist Prof. Siksa, Head, Plant Molecular and cellular genetics Bose Institute, Calcutta. The thesis dissertation has been published in the ‘International Journal of Plant Breeding Research, Theoretical and Applied Genetics’ (TAG)-(1995) 91:1167-1172 Springer-Verlag-1995. N.B: - MP: Medicinal Plant
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