UNB, Dhaka :Bangladeshi scientist Prof Dr Maqsudul Alam, who shot to prominence discovering the jute genome sequencing, died of liver cirrhosis at a Hawaii hospital in the USA on Saturday. He was 60. Dr Maqsudul, also a professor at Hawaii University, breathed his last at Queens Medical Center around 10:15 am (local time), said his brother Mahbubul Alam Babu. The celebrated scientist left behind wife, one daughter and a host of relatives and well wishers to mourn his death. He will be buried in Hawaii on Monday, said Babu.The famous scientist was admitted to the hospital on December 2 with liver problems.Meanwhile, President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed deep shock at the death of Dr Maqsudul Alam.In their separate messages, they prayed for the eternal peace of the departed soul and conveyed their deep sympathies to the bereaved family members. Dr Maqsudul shot to global fame after a team, led by him, discovered the genome sequence for ‘Tosha’ jute in June, 2010.Later, a group of Bangladeshi scientists, led by Dr Maqsudul Alam, sequenced the genome of a local variety of jute. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina came up with the formal announcement at a press conference at her official residence Ganobhaban on August 18, 3013.This achievement opened up a new vista in the development of variety of the world’s most adorned biodegradable natural fibre. With the successful sequencing of jute genome, Bangladesh became only the second country after Malaysia among the developing nations to achieve such a feat.Dr Maqsudul Alam, also a researcher for Bangladesh Jute Research Institute, earlier decoded the genome of papaya in the USA and rubber plant in Malaysia. A genome is all of a living thing’s genetic material and it is the entire set of hereditary instructions for building, running, maintaining an organism, and passing life on to the next generation.Genome sequencing is a laboratory process that determines the complete DNA sequence of an organism’s genome at a single time. The process is often compared to “decoding”, but a sequence is still very much in code.
