Jute genome decoder Dr Maqsudul Alam dies

Eminent scientist Dr Maqsudul Alam, who decoded jute genome, died in a US hospital at the age of 60. Family members said he breathed his last while undergoing treatment at the Queen’s Hospital in Hawaii, United States (US), around 1:00am. Dr Maqsudul Alam, who was a professor at the University of Hawaii, led the team of scientists to decode the genome sequence of the indigenous variety (Tossa, high-yielding variety) of jute. Genome sequence allows scientists to identify and understand how genes work together for the plant’s different features like growth, development and maintenance as an entire organism. Later they also sequenced the DNA mapping of a fungus, Macrophomina Phaseolina, which reduces yield of more than 500 species of crops including jute, soybean, cotton, tobacco, maize and sunflower. Maksudul himself had achieved two more milestones in genomics – sequencing the genomes of Papaya and Rubber. Born in 1954, Maksudul had been living in the USA since his childhood, according to a news agency.