The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

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1 pages The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology NEWSLETTER 1, 1999 ~ r~.. Since the IUBMB Annual Report (August July 1998) was circulated, the Treasurer ((,~}~]~ ~J resigned and a new one was appointed. There has been intensive activity in finalizing the program for the 18th IUBMB Congress in 2000, and approval of sponsorship of a variety of activities by the Education Committee and the Symposia and Interest Groups. For an extended version of this newsletter please go to the homepage at < 1. ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS Treasurer R. B. Beechey resigned as Treasurer as of 31 December The Executive Committee appointed E.C. Slater as Treasurer until 31 December The transfer of responsibility proceeded smoothly during December ICSU BioUnion Commission on Science Education in Developing Countries A proposal has been put forward on behalf of IUBS, IUPAB and IUBMB for formation of an ICSU BioUnion Commission on Science Education in Developing Countries. This will focus on the educational and training needs of undergraduate and graduate students, and young researchers and faculty members, through interdisciplinary instructional teams which will conduct brief instructional courses in a given geographical region. Invitation to Adhere An invitation to adhere has been sent to fifteen countries in Latin America, Asia and Africa. This has produced inquiries from Bolivia, Vietnam and the West Indies. Processing of the application from Bolivia to become an Associate Adhering Body is far advanced. New Adhering Bodies As of 1 January 1999, the Adhering Body for the UK has become The Biochemical Society. The Latvian Biochemical Society is now an Adhering Body rather than an Associate Adhering Body. Call for Delegates to Next Ordinary General Assembly A call for the naming of delegates and associate delegates for the 17th General Assembly on 16 July 2000 to be held in Birmingham UK, has been issued to all Adhering Bodies and Associate Adhering Bodies. The General Secretary expects to receive these names and full addresses by no later than 8 June Next Meeting of the Executive Committee The next meeting of the Executive Committee will be held in San Francisco on May 1999, just before the PABMB/ASBMB/CSBMCB/DBC-ACS Congress that runs May Review of Publications and of Symposia and Interest Groups will be on the agenda. A decision will be made on the venue for Congress Members of the EC will be happy to meet anyone from the Adhering Bodies, Associate Adhering Bodies, Regional Organizations, Committees, Editorial Boards, or Special Members on that occasion. Copyright [UBMB /99 $

2 2. ACTIVITIES Symposia Sponsored in 1999 Symposia 16/1/ /7/99 29/8-4/9/ /9/ /9/99 Evolutionary Genomics, Guanacaste, Costa Rica 4th Int'l Engelhardt Conference on Molecular Biology, Moscow, Russia 13th Congress on Flavins and Flavoproteins, Konstanz, Germany Mammary Gland Biology, Tours, France First General Meeting of the International Proteolysis Society, Mackinac Island, Mich, USA 10-13/10/99 6th IUBMB Conference: Molecular and Cellular Networks. Receptors and Second Messengers in Signal Transduction, Seoul, Korea 10-13/10/99 6th IUBMB Conference: Molecular and Cellular Networks. STATS and SMADS, Seoul, Korea 31/10-5/11/991Oth Int'l Symp. on Vitamin Be and Carbonyl Catalysis and 4th Meeting on PQQ and Quinoproteins, Santa Fe, N.M., USA Interest Groups Activities Sponsored in /1/99 5th Int'l Symp. on Biochemical Roles of Eukaryotic Cell Surface Macromolecules, Bangalore, India 10-16/4/99 Technological and Medical Implications of Metabolic Control Analysis, Visegrad, Hungary 27/5/ /6/ /6/99 27/6-2/7/99 7/99 4-9/7/ /8/99 1 O-19/9/99 DNA Repair and Human Disease, Jerusalem, Israel Vlth Int'l Symp. on Proteinase Inhibitors and Biological Control, Ljubljana, Slovenia Ribosomes: Structure, Function, Antibiotics and Cellular Interactions, Copenhagen, Denmark Gordon Research Conference on Bioenergetics, Andover, NH, USA FASEB Summer Research Conference on Ion-Motive ATPases, Snowmass, CO, USA Gordon Conference on Molybdenum and Tungsten Enzymes, Plymouth, NH, USA XVth Int'l Symp. on Glycoconjugates, Tokyo, Japan Molecular Mechanisms and Structure in Cellular Signalling, St. Martin de Londres, France 4-6/11-99 Int'l Symp. on Oxidative Stress, Redox Regulation and Signal Transduction: Clinical Implications, Kyoto, Japan 2-3/12/99 Bioflavinoids and Polyphenols in Health and Disease, Dinard, France 224

3 5-10/t2/99 "Beyond 2000". A Healthy Lifestyle for Senior Citizens: Frontiers in Molecular Gerontology, Melbourne, Australia Information, including contact addresses, is provided in the IUBMB homepage. All applications for sponsorship of Symposia and Interest Group activities should be sent to Dr. Vito Turk and should indicate the appropriate Interest Group. Education Committee Activities Sponsored in 1999 IV International School of Neuroscience, Buenos Aires, Argentina, April Symposium on Biochemical Education Across the Americas, San Francisco, U.S.A., May Meeting of Revision Committee for Standards for Ph.D. Degree, San Francisco, U.S.A., May Symposium on Biochemical Education in Brazil, Caxambu, Brazil, May Symposium on Biochemical Education, Nice, France, June Course on Molecular Biology Techniques in Malaria, Kampala, Uganda, 1-10 September Workshop on Biochemical Education in Biological Sciences in Chile, Santiago, Chile, 6-8 September IUBMB-FAOBMB Workshop on Biochemical Education, Dunedin, New Zealand, 28 November - 3 December Recommendations on Standards for the Ph.D. Degree The Recommendations on Standards for the Ph.D. Degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology were published by the Education Committee in The General Secretary has undertaken their revision and expansion to include all Molecular Biosciences e.g. cell biology, developmental biology, structural biology, genetics, immunology, microbiology, molecular medicine, physiology, pharmacology, nutrition, in addition to biochemistry and molecular biology. About 90 bioscientists from various disciplines and 35 countries have participated in the project by submitting comments and suggestions for the revision. There has been an almost unanimous affirmation of the value and soundness of the 1989 Recommendations. A.H. Mehler (USA), W. Rombauts (Belgium), Hal B. White (USA), and E.J. Wood (UK) and F. Vella (Canada) comprise the revision committee. The revised version is expected to be ready for publication and wide distribution in the latter half of It will also appear on the homepage. Wood-Whelan Research Fellowships Five Fellowships were awarded during 1998 to Young Scientists from Czech Republic (2), Italy, Greece, and Portugal. Efforts are being made to popularize these Fellowships in Africa, Asia and Latin America. 725

4 Nomenclature Committee The Newsletter 1999 of the IUPAC-IUBMB Joint Commission on Biochemical Nomenclature and the Nomenclature Committee of IUBMB will soon be on the Web at < and contains useful information on: Selenocysteine; Nomenclature of translation factors; Enzyme Nomenclature, Presentation of NMR structures of proteins and nucleic acids; Ribosomal proteins; Mendel: A database of plant gene families; and lists all Web sources for Nomenclature recommendations. The Committees' homepage is at < or at < IUBMB Conference, Jerusalem 1998 At this Conference the first Kunio Yagi Lecture was delivered by Charles Weissmann. and a plaque was presented to KunJo Yagi in recognition of his generosity to the Union and recalling that he is now a lifetime Special Member. FASBMB Congress, Potschefstroom, 1998 The first all-africa meeting in biochemistry and molecular biology to be held in South Africa, this Congress attracted 400 delegates with significant representation from outside the host country. At this Congress Angelo Azzi held an ICSU Lectureship. The IUBMB provided the travel costs of four scientists from Sudan, Cameroon, Nigeria, and Kenya. The pre-congress Biochemical Education Workshop was well attended. FAOBMB Congress, Kuala Lumpur, 1998 At this Congress the FAOBMB-IUBMB Symposium on Biochemical Education was very popular. IUBMB Conference, Seoul, 1999 The 6th IUBMB Conference will be held at the Seoul Hilton Hotel Convention Center, Seoul Korea, October Its topic is "Molecular and Cellular Networks". 14th FAOBMB Symposium, Dunedin, 1999 The 14th FAOBMB Symposium will be held in Dunedin, New Zealand 28 November - 3 December 1999, and has as its topic "Genome Diversity and Bioinformatics". The Symposium webpage is at < IUBMB Congress, Birmingham UK, 2000 Plans are well advanced for the 18th IUBMB Congress in Birmingham UK, on July The program will include invited speakers from some 30 Adhering Bodies. The three sponsors of the Congress i.e. The Biochemical Society, FEBS, and IUBMB, have committed $100,000 each towards ensuring registration fees as low as possible. Young Scientist Travel Awards will be provided by the three organizations. A special pre-congress Course for Young Scientists is also planned. IUBMB Congress, Toronto, 2003 The organizers for this Congress are intent on having about 30% female representation at all levels, and expect an attendance of about 4,000 scientists.?26

5 IUBMB/FEBS and IUBMB/PABMB Lecturers The IUBMB Lecturer at the PABMB/ASBMB/CSBMCB/DBC-ACS Congress in San Francisco in May 1999 will be Bruce Alberts (USA). The IUBMB Lecturer at the 26th FEBS Meeting in Nice, France, June 1999 will be Mariano Barbacid. 3. NEWS Census Information has been obtained from the Regional Organizations that shows that IUBMB represents the following number of biomolecular scientists: FAOBMB - 16,168, FASBMB approx 1,500, FEBS - 36,036, PABMB approx 16,000, total approx 70,000. lubmb Life Information on IUBMB Life, including full addresses of the Editorial Board, can be found on the iubmb homepage. Publicity Copies of the Annual Report, current newsletters, the brochure This is the IUBMB, and Guidelines for the IUBMB Wood-Whelan Research Fellowships are being provided at appropriate scientific meetings. An abbreviated version of the Annual Report has appeared in several IUBMB Journals and in The Biochemist. The homepage keeps the larger community informed of developments. On average, 25 visits are being made daily. It contains several very important links. 4. VARIOUS MATTERS 50th Anniversary of Conception of IUB The 1st International Congress of Biochemistry was held in Cambridge, UK August 1949 under the Presidency of A.C. Chibnall, and was attended by 1700 people. An International Committee of Biochemistry was set up on 25 August 1949 to arrange for a continuing series of International Congresses of Biochemistry and to establish the International Union of Biochemistry. Conception can therefore be said to have occurred on that date. It is very appropriate that the 18th IUBMB Congress (in collaboration with FEBS), the first Congress of the 21st century, will be held in Birmingham, UK on July Full addresses of EC Members can be found on the homepage. F. Vella Februab, 22, 1999?27