nays e-magazine issue 3 (february - april 2013)
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e-Magazine NAYS PR O M O T I N G SC I EN C E
ISSUE 3 February –Apri l 2013
Safety and Security of
Pakistan’s Nuclear
Program………...13
Wireless Drug De-
livery System……...17
Health Care System of
Pakistan…………03
Biodiversity for
Sustainability……..…..08
TEAM NAYS e-MAGAZINE
Leadership
Patron
Prof. Dr. Anwar Nasim
President
Mr. Aftab Ahmad
School of Biological Sciences,
University of the Punjab, Lahore
president@nays.com.pk
Vice President
Dr. S.M. Shahid
(KIBGE), University of Karachi
vice-president@nays.com.pk
Editor-in-Chief Attia Razzaq
University of the Punjab, Pakistan
UMC St. Radboud, The Netherlands E-magazine@nays.com.pk
IT Editor Ubaid Umar MS Student (EME College, NUST)
Operations Engineer (Nayatel)
ubaid.umar@gmail.com
Data Collector Seema Adil B.S student Biochemistry
University of Karachi, Pakistan
seemaadil@ymail.com
Biography of Eminent Scientist NAYS Publications
publications@nays.com.pk
Naey Charagh Report NAYS Naey Charagh team
Subject Editors
Botany
Dr. Mehmooda Munazir
PhD Scholar, Arid Agriculture University, RWP
Kings College London, UK
moodi977@gmail.com
Physics
Zahoor Ali
Senior Scientist
PAEC, Pakistan zahoor78ali@yahoo.com
Biomedical Sciences
Muhammad Sughis
PhD Biomedical Sciences
Center of Research for Public Health & the Health Journal, Pakistan
msughis@hotmail.com
Biology
Dr. Muhammad Amjad Ali
PhD Biology UFT-BOKU, Austria
amjad.ali2001@gmail.com
Engineering
Malik Waqas Ahmed
Civil Engineer NUST, Pakistan
engr.vacas@gmail.com
Campus Corner Mirza Abdul Aleem Baig
Research Assistant, College of Biomedical Engineering,
Ziauddin University, Karachi
aleembaig_mughal@hotmail.com
Workshop/Conference Corner Audience portion
Data Managers Khalid Iqbal
M.Phil student Pharmaceutics
University of the Punjab, Pakistan kiqbal85@gmail.com
Muhammad Javed Hassan PhD Agriculture
Bahauddin Zikria University, Multan, Pakistan
ch.javedhassan@gmail.com
Reviewers Aneela Yasmeen
University of the Punjab, Pakistan editor@nays.com.pk
Suha Tirmizi Research Officer
AKDN eHealth Resource Center
Aga Khan University Karachi suha.tirmizi@aku.edu
misstirmizi@gmail.com
Dr. Aneela Karim
Assistant Professor Federal Urdu University of Arts Science and Technol-
ogy
chemistaneela@yahoo.com
Aftab Ahmad
School of Biological Sciences,
University of the Punjab, Pakistan
president@nays.com.pk
NAYS e -Magazine , I ssue 3 , February—Apri l 2013
Page 2
The Universe is immeasurable with no definite boundaries. Although human knowledge is limited with respect to the actual universe,
we like to say HELLO NEIGHBOUR to galaxies next to us. The scientists are struggling day in, day out to find out new worlds leading
to the discovery of a new galaxy near our ‘Milky Way’. With Hubble Space Telescope scientists have spotted many new galaxies so far
off that they appear to be 400 million years, after big bang event. According to astronomers, it is hard to find these small galaxies near
Milky Way as they are distant, faint and could be anywhere in universe. Leo P is a small galaxy in vicinity of Milky Way at a distance
of about five or six million light-years discussed for the first time in astronomical journal May 2013. It was first spotted as a cloud of
hydrogen gas with hundreds to thousands stars as compared to Milky Way having thousands to billions stars. It contains a number of
bright, blue, newly formed stars as well as a region of ionized gas that indicates the presence of a luminous young star. Indeed, the “P”
in the galaxy’s name stands for “Pristine”, rest refers to the galaxy’s location in the constellation Leo as viewed from Earth, discoverer
state. In a nutshell, the discovery makes one think of several small galaxies waiting to be revealed in inexhaustible universe.
Editorial
NAYS e -Magazine , I ssue 3 , February—Apri l 2013
Arsalan Shakil Engineering hobbyist (Govt. College, Nazimabad, KHI)
Electronics Engineering/Plant Sciences Arsalanstien@gmail.com
Everyone loves gardening as this is one of the
things which make our lives delightful by its
fragrance and appearance. As we take our very
first step outside of our room or house in the
morning, our breaths get filled with the aroma
of all kinds of flowers and then our eyes get
captivated by the beauty of mother nature. Un-
fortunately, this beauty depends on humans! It
requires very short amount of time from us in
order to look good and to live longer. As we
believe that “time is money” so it has become
quite hard for us to spend our time for some
activities other than our routine work. In more
formal words, everything is changing rapidly
and adapting advance technologies so why gar-
dening has to be left behind?
That’s why I thought of making a project which
can give plants or even an entire garden free-
dom to live on their own. Existing watering
systems water the plants according to the time,
just like alarm clock. That doesn’t work well
during different seasons because soil dries more
quickly in summer and less in winter which
results in over watering, thus most plants die. In
this Automatic Watering System, precise ana-
logue readings are taken from the soil of plants
with the help of two metal probes that stay
deeper in the soil. Then these readings are fed
into the ADC (Analogue to Digital Converter)
channels of microcontroller where these read-
ings are processed and if necessary, it turns ON/
OFF the water pump and that not only saves lot
of water but also lives of some
sensitive plants. As this project
uses Microcontroller, analogue
readings can easily be tweaked
with respect to different kinds
of plants (if necessary). This
project is also equipped with an
LCD module which gives a new
way to humans for interacting
with the plants more freely, all
of the process can be seen on
the LCD display, as:
1. Water Level: Excellent!
2. Water Level: Good!
3. Water Level: Normal!
4. Water Level: Water is
Needed! (This message turns on the water
pump and it stays on unless first level is
reached).
This project consists of the following parts:
Microcontroller, 16x2 LCD Display, Two Metal
Probes (for taking readings from the soil),
Small Water Pump, Small pipes for watering
purpose, 12V DC Adaptor (entire system is
operated at just 12V).
Page 3
Automatic Watering System for Plants
Umer Mir Pharm D
General
Pharmacists: The Health Care System of Pakistan
Dawn news reported:
1. LAHORE, March 21: The World Health Organization (WHO), too, has blamed ISOTAB for the death of more than 200
patients of the Punjab Institute of Cardiology in Lahore in early 2012
2. Tyno death toll rises to 17, samples ‘cleared’
3. LAHORE: At least 16 people, mostly drug addicts seeking a fix, have died after drinking toxic cough syrup in Gujranwala,
officials said Saturday
Any one has time to think about the cause of these accidents in Pakistan? Why these are only happening in Pakistan? OR there is negli-
gence?
NAYS e -Magazine , I ssue 3 , February—Apri l 2013
A step forward going towards the diagnosis of
this situation in Pakistan, I will point out one
major lapse in our system, which is the absence
of pharmacist in different fields of health care
system. Let us discuss the first one which is the
biggest one, happened in PIC Lahore, when we
discuss the drug therapies, we must think about
the clinical pharmacist which plays a vital role
as a team member in hospital. In all developed
countries clinical pharmacists are working as
therapeutic specialists. In PIC there was no
clinical pharmacist to check the adverse drug
actions and to correlate these reactions with
the toxic symptoms of different drugs. If
clinical pharmacists were there then the death
toll may have been remained very low.
Now come towards the 2nd and 3rd cases. Both
were because of the cough suppressant drug
dextrometharphan . This is a cough suppressant
and is available without prescription (OTC-over
the counter). This drug is used for the relief of
the symptoms of cough, and it is also used as
abuse drug by the addicts. It’s over dose cause
respiratory depression, coma and eventually
death. Addicts use its over dose for the euphoric
and stimulant action. Now the question is how
pharmacist can prevent these happenings, if
there are retail pharmacists at the retail
pharmacies and they are properly assessing the
buyer and only giving drugs to patients but not
to abusers and properly counseling patients
about the use and harms of overdose then you
can easily think how many cases can be pre-
vented.
Now I will discuss the different applied fields of
pharmacy, and how pharmacists are beneficial
to the people of Pakistan .Some fields are not
well established in Pakistan while others are
established in Pakistan. It is important to de-
scribe a pharmacist.
“Pharmacists, also known as druggists, are
healthcare professionals who practice in
pharmacy, the field of health sciences, focus-
ing on safe and effective medication use. The
role of the pharmacist has shifted from the
classical "lick, stick, and pour" dispensary
role (that is, "lick & stick the labels, count
the pills & pour liquids"), to being an inte-
grated member of the health care team di-
rectly involved in patient care.
Now some chatter about the hospital pharma-
cist, hospitals pharmacist is a person who is
responsible for the dispensing, counseling, in-
ventory control, storing and record keeping of
the medicines. Hospital pharmacists are also
involved in educating the physicians, nurses,
staff and patients about the use, safety and ad-
ministration of drugs. Here the most important
segment is the counseling of patient about the
medication. For example how to take medi-
cine?, either with water or milk?, after how
many hours?, which food you can take and
which food u can’t take?, either before the meal
or after meal?, which adverse drugs effects are
possible? which medication is for which pur-
pose? and how long the therapy will be contin-
ued. Pharmacist welcomes the queries and give
answers to the patient and satisfy patient psy-
chologically. Drug information centre and
poison control centre are the modifications.
Drug information centre provides any informa-
tion related to drug. And in near future inshAl-
lah UNIVERSITY OF SARGODHA, FAC-
ULTY OF PHARMACY will establish drug
information centre. You can call there, if u has a
query related to medicine. Poison control centre
are established in hospitals and they maintain
information and antidotes of the drugs. Pharma-
cists are specialized in this field. But hospital
pharmacists are not appointed in all govt. hospi-
tals, their induction is necessary to achieve the
above mentioned services.
Now come towards the role of clinical phar-
macist, these are most desperately needed in
our health care system, after PIC incident Pun-
jab govt. has appointed clinical pharmacist in
the Punjab institute of cardiology. Punjab govt.
also has hired pharmacists during dengue con-
trol. Currently AGHA KHAN UNIVERSITY
HOSPITAL, SHAUKHAT KHANAM MEMO-
RIAL CANCER HOSPITAL and CHILDREN
HOSPITAL LAHORE have well established
clinical pharmacy setups. Now I want to tell u
how a clinical pharmacist can beneficial for
health care system.
1. Clinical pharmacist ensures there is an
appropriate indication for each drug and
that all the medical problems are addressed
therapeutically.
2. Select and recommend the most appropri-
ate drug based upon therapeutic goal.
3. Select the most appropriate dose regimen
according to therapeutic goal.
4. Checks drug drug interactions, drug food
interactions, preparing TPN ,preparing and
dispensing radiopharmaceuticals , patient
profile, adjust the dose according to body
weight, and also in case renal and hepatic
impairment.
5. Maintain drug therapy for effectiveness or
adverse effects in order to determine
whether to maintain, modify or discon-
tinue. Also counsels the patient and evalu-
ate the effectiveness of drug therapy.
If govt. appoint clinical pharmacists in hospi-
tals then we can achieve these benefits.
Community pharmacy is a pharmacy in com-
munity, where a competent, qualified and
trained pharmacist is appointed. This pharmacy
has the family history of patient, while pharma-
cist is well aware of the allergies of the different
families. So at community pharmacy phar-
macist can best manage chronic diseases like
diabetes and hypertension. Community
pharmacist can also educate people about the
disease, how they spread and prevention. For
this purpose pharmacist can also arrange discus-
sion sessions with people of community. Also
pharmacists play their active role in immuniza-
tion. Govt. should set the trend of community
pharmacies where pharmacists treat diseases
like irritable bowl syndrome, common cold, etc.
and refer the patient to the physician and re-
spective specialists in case of more severe pa-
thology. This will help to reduce quackery in
Pakistan and will also be beneficial for patients
in terms of prevention of economic loss, time
loss and early diagnosis.
There are many private as well as public sector
universities which are offering Pharm-D. It
means thousands of students graduate annually.
Many talented studiers leave the country be-
cause Pakistan has not well established job
structure of pharmacist, in this way talent of this
country goes out and it’s not beneficial for the
country. Govt. should devise policies for the
pharmacist’s induction in health care system
and giving them proper opportunity to perform
in health care system. The Punjab drug rules
2007( schedule G) should be implemented for
the safety of people. No doubt the establish-
ment of Drug Regulatory Authority is admi-
rable but we want to see it fully functional at
all levels. Last year in 2012 Punjab assembly
has passed a bill that there will be 1 pharma-
cist for fifty beds in every public sector hos-
pital. It was a brilliant idea but not came into
reality. Because vacancies was not announced,
I wish in near future govt. will announce vacan-
cies and will pay attention to this alarming
situation in health care system.
Page 4
NAYS e -Magazine , I ssue 3 , February—Apri l 2013
Muhammad Mohsin Raza, Zeeshan Sattar, Asim Ali, Aiman, Iqra Ishfaq, Zarnab Sabir M.Sc. (Hons.) Plant Pathology, University of Agriculture Faisalabad
Popular article Agriculture Sciences
mohsin1570@gmail.com
Forests provide critical shelters for terrestrial biodiversity, act as a central constituent of the earth’s biogeochemical systems and are a source of ecosystem services essential for human well being. Forests also have the potential to mitigate global climate change by serving as net carbon sinks. The global forest area has been reduced by 40% over the last three centuries, primarily as a result of human activities, particularly the conversion of forested land to agricultural us-age. Today, less than one third of the earth’s land area is covered by forests. Disturbance agents such as pathogens, insects and fire can decrease the ability of forests to provide goods and services. Climate has always shaped the world’s forests but today the world’s climate has become warmer and will change further at an exceptional rate. Recent extensive tree death events have been associated with climate change. Climate change ‘‘refers to a change in the state of the climate that can be identified (e.g. by using statistical tests) by changes in the mean or variability of its properties, and that persists for an extended period, typically dec-ades or longer’’.
Climate change has the potential to initiate mul-tiple, interacting processes that affect forests, some positive and others negative. For instance, higher atmospheric CO2 concentrations can result in increased growth rates and water use efficiency of trees, or there may be a reduced effect of carbon fertilization on tree productivity over time and in older trees. Elevated CO2 was shown to increase host resistance to forest dis-eases. If host susceptibility or pathogen viru-lence or aggressiveness is increased by climatic conditions, then a disease outbreak or epidemic may result. Plant disease epidemics may be-come more frequent as the climate changes. Epidemics of pathogens that are mobile or eas-ily dispersed, and can kill their hosts relatively quickly.
The main objective of the article is to under-standing and management of forest tree diseases under a changing climate. Because, most plant diseases are strongly influenced by environ-mental conditions, climate change will affect the pathogen, the host and the interaction be-tween them, resulting in changes in disease impact. Since, abiotic factors such as tempera-ture and moisture influence host susceptibility to pathogens, pathogen growth, reproduction and infection which represent the most consid-erable drivers of disease outbreaks. The distri-bution of hosts and diseases will change under the perception of climate change. Because, in-creases in temperature and changes in precipita-tion may allow the ranges of some species to expand, perhaps whilst contracting elsewhere,
but models frequently predict a reduction in the potential geographic distribution of tree species or diseases as a result of climate change. Patho-gens that typically affect water stressed hosts are likely to have an increased impact on forests in regions where precipitation is reduced. The roles of pathogens as disturbance agents will probably increase, as their ability to adapt to new climatic conditions will be greater than that of their long lived hosts. Most pathogens will be
able to migrate to locations where the climate is suitable for their survival and reproduction at a faster rate than tree species.
Climate change will affect the life cycles and biological synchronicity of many forest trees and pathogens.
In this artifact the diseases and their causal pathogens or agents are divided into three groups: diseases caused by pathogens directly affected by climate; diseases caused by patho-gens indirectly affected by climate; and decline diseases.
Pathogens directly affected by climate:
This group of pathogens e.g. Phytophthora root rot can cause disease in a healthy, vigorous host, if the pathogen’s environmental require-ments are met. Their life cycles are directly affected by temperature and moisture. For ex-ample, many pathogens causing needle diseases are sensitive to precipitation and humidity and their rates of reproduction, spread, and infection are greater when conditions are moist. In these cases, changes in temperature and moisture more directly affect the pathogen regardless of
their effects on the host. Changes in climatic conditions in the last 60 years, i.e. increased mean winter temperatures, seasonal precipita-tion shift from summer into winter and a ten-dency to heavy rain are favoring infection by several species. It has been predicted that in-creasing temperatures will lead to a potential range expansion of the pathogen of this group.
Pathogens indirectly affected by climate:
Pathogens indirectly affected by climate e.g. Armillaria root disease, Pine wilt, canker pathogens etc tend to infect such hosts that are stressed by environmental factors. Such pathogens can sometimes infect a healthy host and remain latent (hidden) until the host is stressed. Whilst the ability of these pathogens to sporulate, spread and infect new hosts is affected by temperature and moisture, factors that stress their hosts are often critical to their successful invasion of host tissues. For example, an increased incidence of summer drought will increase the prob-ability that trees will be in-fected by pathogens whose activity is facilitated by host stresses, such as root patho-gens, wound colonizers and latent colonizers of sapwood.
Decline diseases
Forest declines are diseases caused by a com-plex of predisposing, inciting and contributing factors. As these difficulties accumulate the tree gradually becomes less able to produce, store and mobilize carbohydrates. It typically devel-ops symptoms of ‘die back’, and unless the situation improves significantly the tree eventu-ally dies.
Managing forest diseases as climate changes
Given the numerous examples of the ecological, economic and social value of forests, and the role that forests may play in mitigating global climate change, it is precious to conduct a com-prehensive assessment of management options for forest diseases. Impacts of climate change on forest health must be mitigated. This will require proactive thinking and a modified tech-nique of forest management approaches, be-cause orthodox management strategies will not protect forest values in a changing climate. Climate change is already disrupting practices and policies for managing commercial and non-commercial forests.
Page 5
Climatic Changes and Forest Diseases
NAYS e -Magazine , I ssue 3 , February—Apri l 2013
Essential components for managing forest
diseases as climate changes
Four categories of management tactics have
been recommended: monitoring, forecasting,
planning and use of mitigating strategies.
Monitoring
Monitoring the spatial (Regarding Space) oc-
currence of forest diseases relative to both the
ranges of host trees and annual weather patterns
will inform adaptive management. The reliabil-
ity of monitoring data will be maximized if
regular, organized surveys of tree health, mor-
tality and growth, whether remote or ground
based, are conducted by skilled personnel, ide-
ally at the stand, watershed and landscape levels
at regular intervals. Forest range plots also can
be used to detect trends in growth and mortality
for individual species and incidence of diseases
or other disturbance agents. The ability of these
activities to effectively inform the long term
management of forests might be increased by
coordinating with monitoring for other distur-
bance agents, such as insects or fire, and by
monitoring across jurisdictional boundaries.
Forecasting
The profound changes in environmental condi-
tions expected from global climate change mean
that forest professionals cannot rely on histori-
cal observations and experiences to forecast and
plan for the future, but instead must develop
and use a variety of modeling tools. Models of
diverse phenomena, from climate to vegetation
to disturbance agents, can guide management of
forests under a changing climate, especially
when they are well integrated. Bio climatic
envelope models, for example, which integrate
spatially explicit historic and contemporary data
from weather stations, general circulation mod-
els and other sources, can be used to correlate
current tree and pathogen species distributions
with climate variables or to project future distri-
butions on the basis of understanding of spe-
cies’ physiological responses to environmental
variables. Modeling pathogens’ climate enve-
lopes alongside host reactions to climate can
thus enhance the ability to predict disease out-
comes.
Planning
Jurisdictions that already have forest health
strategies must ensure that they are maintained
and adequately funded. Also, they should re-
view and revise pertinent legislation and poli-
cies to ensure that forest health problems can be
responded to quickly and effectively. The suc-
cess of management proposed to minimize the
potential effects of climate change on forest
pests on large spatial scales depends, in part, on
the synergistic effects of other major distur-
bances, such as wildfire. Climate change in-
duced increases in tree mortality from patho-
gens and insects may increase the occurrence
and severity of fires. Hazards and risk rating
systems are integral components of forest man-
agement plans and can be applied in the absence
of disease epidemics, and have proven useful
for projecting the effects of climate change on
forest pathogens.
Strategies for mitigating effects of climate
change
Ecological resilience is the capacity of an eco-
system to absorb disturbance without shifting
into a qualitatively different state. The estab-
lishment and maintenance of forests with di-
verse species and age classes can help maintain
resilience to mortality and reduction in growth
rates of trees in response to diseases and climate
change. Breeding programs for forest trees can
promote genetic diversity, disease resistance
and tolerance to environmental stresses. A
tree’s resistance to pathogens depends on ge-
netic variation, evolved immunity, agility and
environmental conditions. Fungicides may be
an effective method of controlling forest dis-
eases in forest nurseries and in natural forests,
especially in the short term, despite negative
public perception.
Page 6
Abdullah Mohiuddin Sustainable environment and energy systems, Middle East Technical University
Field: Political Economy and Law in Sustainability
Evaluate the Strengths and Weaknesses of the Major Traditions and
Approaches to Value the Environment
Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of
the major traditions and approaches to
value the environment. Referring to the
classical, neo-classical (marginalist), envi-
ronmental and/or ecological traditions,
and their variants as you see appropriate,
outline your preferred approach to value
the environment. Illustrate your responses
using real historical environmental prob-
lems.
Why there is need to estimate or assign the
value to the environment? If something is
there for free, it is ignored in every step of
decision making. Thus in order to save the
environment the first step required by the
economists is to come up with the concept of
assigning the monetary value to the environ-
ment and thus somehow limit the environ-
mental degradation using economical princi-
ples. There are various approaches for the
estimation of the value of the environment. In
Neo Classical economics, one major ap-
proach is the creation of market. A brief in-
troduction and strengths and weaknesses of
this approach are discussed in this essay.
Two examples from the recent history in this
essay will extend the understanding about
how development of a market can help in the
reduction of the degradation of the environ-
ment. Second most important concept is of
market failures. After which another ap-
proach named as “willingness to pay” is dis-
cussed which is for the estimation of value of
non-market based environmental goods and
services. A brief discussion of the ecological
economic approach will be followed by the
conclusion. In neo classical tradition, the
centre of economic activities is the market.
Market is a place where customers and sup-
pliers gather for the exchange of goods and
services. The basic difference between classi-
cal and neo-classical approaches of market
are that in neo-classical economics the valua-
tion of price comes from the equilibrium of
supply and demand where as in classical eco-
nomics the price is determined by the cost of
production. So in Neo-classical Market, the
instruments of supply and demand operate
and determine the price of the goods and
services. Markets are meant for the efficient
allocation of resources. Creation of markets
for environmental goods and services will
provide the monetary value to them and thus
it will directly influence the decisions and
preferences of the people and the corpora-
tions. A new commodity will be created and
new opportunities of trade will emerge. Mar-
kets are created by humans, they are not natu-
ral.
NAYS e -Magazine , I ssue 3 , February—Apri l 2013
The major problem in creating a market for
environmental goods and services is that these
goods and services are non-excludable. For
instance the services of the ozone layer or the
benefits of polar ice caps in prevention of cli-
mate change are for all human beings. It is im-
possible to restrict anyone from enjoying the
benefits of their services. Everyone is using
these environmental services for free. In order
to create a market it is necessary to incorporate
the concept of ownership or private property. It
is very difficult to establish property rights for
these goods and services. Some of these prob-
lems are international (e.g. melting of Polar Ice
Caps, rise of sea levels, global warming etc) and
since there is no global institution powerful
enough to possibly intervene and establish prop-
erty rights and thus create a market. So in order
to create a market some sort of institution
should be present that could establish property
rights. And creation of such institution would
require costs. Thus creation of Market itself
requires some costs such as transaction costs,
which may be very significant.
Although there is an example of success in de-
veloping a cap-and-trade mechanism that
showed that this might work for restricting the
degradation of the environment. United State
program for trading in SO2 (Sulphur dioxide)
emissions is said to be successful in reducing
the SO2 emissions. SO2 emissions can cause
acid rain. So in order to prevent acid rain this
program was introduced under Title IV of the
1990 Clean Air Act Amendments to reduce acid
rain by achieving a reduction in SO2 and NOx
(Nitrogen Oxides) emissions (EPA). In that
market based mechanism, the program sets a
permanent cap on the total amount of SO2 emis-
sions on electric power plants, and the level
below the cap is traded. Thus, allowing the
parties to flexibly select the method of compli-
ance. So they could decide the best possible
economical way to reduce their emissions. And
the operations of these electric power plants
were influenced by the market value. As it is
mentioned earlier that creation of market itself
requires cost. The cost that was anticipated for
this program was much higher than the actual
cost that incurred during the implementation of
the program. And the benefits were estimated to
be 70 billion Dollars annually with a cost-
benefit ratio of 1:40 (EPA). The program
achieved a reduction in Acid rain phenomena
locally, so it was kind of a localized solution for
a localized problem. This however cannot be
easily replicated for other international environ-
mental problems .Global warming, for instance
is an international problem and thus, for a mar-
ket based mechanism to work successfully, it
will require an international consensus.
Kyoto Protocol is an international effort to com-
bat global warming by reduction of CO2 emis-
sions. It’s an international agreement associated
to the United Nation`s Framework Convention
on Climate Change. This protocol binds the 37
industrialized countries and European commu-
nity to adopt local measures to reduce CO2 and
other green house gas emissions and gives them
some flexibility through market based mecha-
nisms (United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change -UNFCCC). This however seems
not to be much fruitful because, some major
players in the CO2 emissions are not taking part
in it. United States for instance, being the major
CO2 emitter is not the part of the deal. China is
not required to reduce its emissions since its
emissions of CO2 per capita is very low (Liliana
LaValle and Amy Braun) .The estimation of
price of a market good is affected by the supply
and demand of the goods and services. The
number of participants of a market is thus very
important. The achievements of this protocol
might have been very different if United States
would have agreed to sign this protocol.
Apart from these examples there are other
things to be considered as well which are re-
lated to the market based approach of valuing
the environment. There is a possibility of mis-
calculation of the value of environmental goods
and services through market based mechanisms
because the number of participants in the mar-
ket is restricted to the present generation. There
is a possibility that if future generation could
somehow participate in the market, then the
value that we will get via supply and demand
principles could turn out to be far greater. But
since future generation does not exist right now,
and with future there is a factor of uncertainty,
we cannot know how valuable the environment
will be for them in terms of monetary criteria.
For example, the consumption of resources such
as fossil fuels, how much would the people of
future generation like to pay for these re-
sources?
Conventional economists however define a
concept of intertemporal discounting where
methods of discounting can be applied to find
the future value of the environmental resources
and this evaluation can be used in the decision
making process. Then a problem emerges that
future assets may be valued much lower. As it is
evident, in modern world money is considered
as a criterion for depiction of value of any asset,
and according to the economic principles the
value of money decreases with time. This may
be proved as a setback, as environmental goods
and services will be valued lesser in future than
in the present. Future environmental resources
when evaluated with the discounting factor, if
results in lower estimation of their value, will
make it difficult to decrease the excessive con-
sumption in the present. Above mentioned ex-
ample is a reason of market failure, where mar-
ket fails to serve the purpose of efficient alloca-
tion of the resources. There can be various other
reasons of market failure as well and they could
be because of any inherent feature of the re-
source.
In case of a market absence of an environmental
good, economists suggest an empirical method
of estimation of their value. This approach to
find the value of environment is the concept of
willingness to pay, how much people are will-
ing to pay to stop the degradation of the envi-
ronment. This non-market based method can
help the policy makers and governments to
decide the amount of funding they must allocate
towards the solutions of environmental prob-
lems. One of the major problems with the neo-
classical approaches is the possibility of errors
and misjudgment in valuation of environment.
The pricing technique or the calculation of
monetary value of environmental goods and
services may not reflect the actual value. Also
not everything can be put in terms of money.
A different perspective in valuation of environ-
ment is found in ecological economics. As Ken-
neth Boulding, who is regarded as one of the
founding fathers of ecological economics de-
scribes spaceman economy,
Page 7
NAYS e -Magazine , I ssue 3 , February—Apri l 2013
where earth is modeled as a spaceship and it can
be thought of a closed system in terms of mate-
rials. (Roger Perman et.al, 2001). Mankind can
enjoy the resources that are present within the
spaceship but they cannot get a supply of re-
sources beyond the boundaries of the spaceship.
Here, in order, for mankind to exist sustainably,
they must find their existence in such a way that
does not degrade the ecological cycle.
This perspective of valuation of environment
does not negate the need of price based evalua-
tion of the environment as Boulding himself
accepts the need for market based methods, but
it emphasizes more on the need of putting the
things in a correct perspective. That is, the eco-
nomics of humans is a subset of a larger system,
which is the ecology. As Robert Nadeau, a pro-
fessor of environmental science and public pol-
icy at George Mason University says:
“The primary objective of the ecological econo-
mists is to enlarge the framework of
the neoclassical economic paradigm to include
scientifically valid measures of the environ-
mental costs of economic activities” (Robert
Nadeau, 2011).
In the light of above discussion, it may be stated
that neo-classical approaches of valuation of
environment, if pursued in a proper perspective
as it is suggested by ecological economics, with
efforts of minimizing the miscalculations, errors
and failures such as market failures, can provide
a better solution of the environmental problem .
Efforts to include the environmental costs of the
economic activities in the economic system are
required. Lessons from the past efforts of crea-
tion of markets must be learned and applied in
the continued efforts. As it is mentioned in this
article US program for trading in SO2 is an
example of the success that is achievable via
market based mechanism. The Neo-Classical
market based approach can provide some sort of
flexibility and ease of implementation by all
parties, which may be more acceptable.
Bibliography
EPA “Cap and Trade: Acid Rain Program Results” [http:/ /www.epa.gov/capandtrade/
documents/ctresults.pdf] accessed on 24th
November 2012 3:15 PM
Li liana LaValle and Amy Braun. “Kyoto
Protocol”
[http:/ /si temaker.umich.edu/
section3group3/
the_protocol_and_its_problems] accessed
on 27th November 2012 at 10:56PM
Robert Nadeau, 2011 “Ecology Theory:
Environmental and ecological economics”.
Encyclopedia of Earth
[http:/ /www.eoearth.org/art icle/Environmental_and_ecological_economics?
topic=58074] accessed on 27th November
2012, 7:42 PM
Roger Perman et .al, 2001, “Natural Re-
source and Environmental economics: 4th
edit ion”: Addison Wasley Press
UNFCC (United Nation`s Framework Con-vention on climate change) “Kyoto Proto-
col”
[http:/ /unfccc.int /kyoto_protocol/
i tems/2830.php] accessed on 27th Novem-
ber 2012, 6:16 PM
Page 8
Abdullah Mohiuddin Sustainable environment and energy systems
Middle East Technical University Field: Political Economy and Law in Sustainability
How Would You Value Biodiversity for Sustainability?
“How would you value biodiversity for sustain-
ability? How could development which re-
spected biodiversity be made sustainable, if at
all?”
“The term biodiversity or biological diversity
refers to the variety of life forms occurring in
nature, as a result of evolutionary history. The
concept includes the variety of organisms at all
levels, from genetic variants belonging to the
same species through arrays of different spe
cies; as well as the variety of ecosystems, en-
compassing ecological communities in a given
habitat and the physical conditions under
which they live” (Wilson, 1992).
The notion of economic growth and develop-
ment of humankind is causing the natural habi-
tats to shrink and thus the world is currently
progressing towards the state where many spe-
cies are endangered. After the industrial revolu-
tion we humans are considered to be responsi-
ble for dreadful conditions of the environment,
and biodiversity loss is one of the foremost
environmental problems. Biodiversity is indis-
pensable for the stability of the ecosystem. The
loss of biodiversity reduces the exquisiteness of
the ecosystem. The chances of prospective
sources of victuals and the chances of discovery
of new pharmaceuticals, the other benefits that
are not known to men yet, will trim down if
biodiversity loss is not curtailed (Hans-Peter
Weikard, 2002). In other words, biodiversity
itself is very important for a sustainable world
for mankind.
Some scholars believe that we cannot attach a
value to essentials, like the services provided by
the ecology. According to Gowdy (1997) we
cannot affix a value to an indispensable re-
source. Some claim that biodiversity is not sub-
stitutable. As, Mainwaring (2001, Page 81)
states that, the replacement of ecosystem ser-
vices is far from human capacity. Even if
Gowdy and Mainwaring`s arguments are ac-
cepted, we will still require a valuation of biodi-
versity since our decisions towards anything
extensively depend upon what value we give to
it. The survival of ecosystems and the conserva-
tion of biodiversity all these things need an
evaluation to be a part of decision making.
(Hans-Peter Weikard, 2002).
Even though it may be tough to find the abso-
lute valuation of the biodiversity, (for various
reasons like lack of knowledge or lack of opera-
tional definition of biodiversity), the mitigation
and compensation values of the impacts of hu-
man activities on biodiversity may help in the
reduction of the loss of biodiversity. Moreover,
considering the significance of biodiversity for
sustainability of mankind, these mitigation and
compensation values will help us understand the
extent of efforts that are required to preserve
biodiversity. This approach seems effective in
the valuation of biodiversity, because it in-
volves the conservation of biodiversity and
conservation of biodiversity is inevitable for
sustainability. Later on in this essay the valua-
tion approach of mitigation and compensation is
defined. The work of Alexander James et al.
(2001) is discussed as an example of mitigation
and compensation value. The work of Hans-
peter Weikard (2002) is presented as a support
of area-based approach of Alexander James
et.al. In the second part of the essay the notion
of possibility of sustainable development that
respects biodiversity is presented. In this part of
the essay examples from agriculture, aquacul-
ture and livestock farming are given to support
the notion that developments in these areas can
be done while conserving the biodiversity. Next
NAYS e -Magazine , I ssue 3 , February—Apri l 2013
to that the concept of a policy instrument tool
i.e. `Biodiversity offset` is discussed that can
make it possible to sustain the development
while respect diversity.
The first approach that is discussed here is Miti-
gation and compensation values. Conservation
of biodiversity deals with enveloping the devel-
opment into the biological conservation frame-
work and finding procedures to mitigate or
compensate the impacts caused by man`s ex-
ploitation of natural habitats. The costs of these
measures are the mitigation and compensation
values of biodiversity (Alho CJR. 2008)
The work of Alexander James et al (2001) can
be considered a very good illustration of mitiga-
tion and compensation valuation of biodiversity
which involves the estimation of costs of a con-
servation program for biodiversity around the
globe. They surveyed current spending on pro-
tected areas globally, made an estimate of the
funding shortfalls. The next step was the acqui-
sition of land to spread out this network for
ecological representation, and summing the cost
of managing these areas in future effectively.
Finally they estimated the scale of reimburse-
ment required to meet the opportunity costs
incurred by regional people living in or near
natural reserves. They added all the costs to find
the total annual cost of maintaining a biodiver-
sity conservation program around the globe.
Alexander James et.al also mentioned about the
enormous subsidies towards environment per-
verse activities like subsidies given to prop up
agricultural production, energy use, road trans-
portation, water consumption, and commercial
fisheries. Alexander James et.al (2001) pro-
posed that a worldwide representative and suffi-
ciently maintained nature preservation program
could be achieved for about 2% of the annual
spending on such environmentally detrimental
subsidies. If the proposition of Alexander James
et.al is accepted and the 2% or more of annual
spending on environmentally detrimental subsi-
dies are diverted towards a global biodiversity
conservation program than development and
conservation can go side by side. This global
conservation program as proposed by the work
of Alexander James et.al is a noteworthy exam-
ple of a possibility of coupling of development
with the conservation of natural habitats for the
protection of biodiversity. It may present a hope
for the possibility of a world that is not only
sustainable but also conserving biodiversity.
The approach of Alexander James et.al (2001,
Page: 43-52) for the valuation of biodiversity is
to increase the number of protected areas,
thereby giving the nature, a chance to protect
the biodiversity in its own natural way i.e. ab-
sence of human interference. This however
requires a compromise between the humanity`s
urge for development, land exploitation and
conservation of biodiversity. As Hans-Peter
Weikard (2002) concludes in his paper that
“Indeed, the problem of Noah’s ark, which
species will be given a place on the ark, is only
one of two problems that Noah faces. It is a
second-stage problem. At the first stage Noah
must make up his mind about how much space
on the ark he wants for himself.”
The approach of valuation of biodiversity by
Alexander James et.al (January 2001) seems
more practical in a sense that it focuses on the
area of protected reserves instead of focusing on
the species for the conservation of biodiversity.
This seems in-line with the work of Hans-Peter
Weikard (2002,). Hans-Peter Weikard argued
that biodiversity conservation programs lack
operation-ability because of various constraints
like lack of all the genetic information, lack of
funds, and a lack of a practical operational defi-
nition of biodiversity. In his work Hans-Peter
Weikard discussed the diversity function pre-
sented by Weitzman (Weitzman, Martin L.
1992. ‘‘On Diversity.). Weitzman`s diversity
function as a framework for the measurement of
biodiversity, is based on the genetic variation
amongst the species. He argued that Weitz-
man’s structure of diversity measurement can
be made realistic and germane by shifting the
level of analysis from species to ecosystems.
Hans-peter Weikard (2002) also proposed that
the ecosystems with more biodiversity can be
preferred in allocation of resources for conser-
vation. This may be a problem, because we do
not know what we are losing in the less diverse
ecosystem. May be ecosystems that are less
diverse if not protected, their species can be
conserved as well due to the advancement in the
technology as Keekok lee (2000 Page: 39) sug-
gests that “whole plants need not be saved; only
their seeds”. Keekok lee adds that “the habitats
of plants may be destroyed but their seeds live
on. With the seeds intact, DNA genetic engi-
neering will enable us to splice the DNA relat-
ing to whatever property of the plant is deemed
desirable into another, or indeed into bacteria
using viruses as a vector, which could replicate
that property for us in an infinitely more effi-
cient manner than the original seed/plant can
do” Thus the approach of giving preference in
saving more diverse ecosystems can make more
sense if the species of less diverse systems be
conserved using the biotechnology.
The proposition of Alexander James et.al can be
performed based on the approach suggested by
Hans-peter Weikard with an addition of conser-
vation of species of less diverse ecosystems as
discussed by Keekok Lee. In this way, well
being of future generation could be ensured and
the impacts of loss of biodiversity on sustain-
ability will be minimal.
Now moving to the second part of our discus-
sion i.e. how could development which re-
spected biodiversity be made sustainable? The
development which respects biodiversity is
inherently supporting the cause of sustainability
because sustainability of mankind itself requires
biodiversity. We depend on biodiversity in
many ways. For example the change of climate
and other adverse effects sometimes require us
to make use of biodiversity. Many traditional
livestock farmers employ multi-species and
multi-breed herds and flocks to sustain high
diversity and to shield against climatic and eco-
nomic adversities. (Hoffmann I., 2003).
Other than livestock, species combinations also
augment the output in aquatic systems thus
supporting the sustainability. Use of diverse fish
species in aquaculture improves resource use
efficiency and reduces waste. This is why, in
china four types of carp are commonly raised in
the same pond: silver carp filter phytoplankton,
grass carp feed on plant-eating microorganisms,
the common carp is an omnivorous bottom
feeder and bighead carp filters zooplankton
(Naylor et al., June 2000). We can see in above
example that because of different sources of
feed the resources are used effectively and the
carp yield can be higher than the pond which
has only one type of carp.
Page 9
NAYS e -Magazine , I ssue 3 , February—Apri l 2013
Similarly for agriculture, soil enrichment, pest
control and pollination are necessary ecological
benefits that are obtained due to biodiversity.
The presence of wild patches of vegetation in
farming area preserves wild or weedy species
that provide habitat for wild fauna that contrib-
ute towards soil enrichment, pest control and
pollination (Vandermeer et al., 2002). Instead of
using unsustainable sources, like the use of
pesticides for pest control, these wild patches
may be used. Above examples show the direct
dependence of human welfare on biodiversity
and they assert the importance of biodiversity
for sustainability. Research in these areas can
help us further more in developing sustainable
agriculture, aquaculture and livestock practices
that can support biodiversity.
Besides that a change in policy can also help for
the conservation of biodiversity while keeping
the development process intact. As it is argued
earlier that any development that respects biodi-
versity is inherently supporting the sustainabil-
ity, so any policy instrument that could bound
the development process to respect biodiversity
will support sustainability. Biodiversity offset is
emerging as a significant policy instrument for
the protection of biodiversity from the impacts
of development. Biodiversity offsets have been
defined by ten Kate et al (2004, Biodiversity
offsets: views, experience and the business
case) as: ‘‘Conservation actions intended to
compensate for the residual, unavoidable harm
to biodiversity caused by development projects,
so as to ensure no net loss of biodiver-
sity.’’ (David A. Norton, 2009).
Biodiversity offsets involve the safeguard of a
natural habitat that holds existing conservation
value. In case of possibility of a loss of a natural
habitat due to impacts of development, it re-
quires the developers to restore the natural habi-
tat of the same conservation value elsewhere. In
some parts of the world biodiversity offsets are
referred as mitigation whereas in some places it
is referred as compensation measure. (David A.
Norton, 2009). This also supports the earlier
discussion of mitigation and compensation val-
ues of Biodiversity in this essay .This policy
instrument also seems in-line with the proposi-
tion of Hans-peter Weikard i.e. focusing on
ecosystems for the conservation of biodiversity.
The assessment of conservation value can be
possibly done as per the suggestion given by
Hans-peter Weikard i.e. the ecosystems with
more biodiversity, may be preferred over the
ecosystems with less biodiversity. Biodiversity
offsets are used by governments and private
sector to permit the development activities (thus
sustaining the development) after the assurance
of the no-net-loss or net-gain in biodiversity.
One example of the biodiversity offset is the
Kate Valley Landfill. Kate Valley landfill is
situated in coastal hill country in New Zea-
land`s eastern South Island. Kate Valley Land-
fill was identified by Transwaste Canterbury
Ltd. (TCL) as a possible site for a new regional
landfill. TCL applied in 2002 to Hurunui Dis-
trict Council for resource consent. TCL was
granted the permission subject to some condi-
tions. One of the restrictions was that the area of
Nothofagus solandri (black beech) forest should
be retained. TCL wanted this restriction to be
removed to enable the landfill to be of a viable
size while the opposing parties wanted it to
stay. TCL and the three opposing parties went
to the environment court, where TCL offered
the environmental compensation (Biodiversity
offset).
The court accepted the biodiversity offset and
allowed to remove the restriction of retaining of
Nothofagus solandri (black beech). The biodi-
versity offset as proposed by the TCL which
was later accepted by the environment court
included the long-term protection, restoration
and management of a 410 ha “Conservation
Management Area” adjacent to the Kate Valley
landfill, which is now known as Tiromoana
Bush. The Court Further specified the number
of actions that TCL must undertake. Some of
these actions included the permanent fencing of
the Tirmoana Bush and the removal of domestic
grazing animals within two years. (David A.
Norton, 2009). The effectiveness of biodiversity
offset for conservation of biodiversity in this
case and in general as well is not discussed
here. But it can be assumed that policy instru-
ments like this if refined and implemented prop-
erly may help.
In this essay, the mitigation and compensation
valuation approach for the conservation of bio-
diversity for sustainability is discussed. This
approach is based on reducing the human im-
pacts on biodiversity so it inherently supports
sustainability (since biodiversity is inevitable
for sustainability) .After that a proposition of
Alexander James et.al is shown. Hans-Peter
Weikard`s suggestion of shifting the focus from
species to ecosystems is also discussed to show
that conservation programs like the one pro-
posed by Alexander James et al which focus on
increasing the protected areas, (which can be
ecosystems) would be effective and practical.
Finally a policy tool ( Biodiversity offset) is
discussed, which can also work in the same
manner, i.e. conservation of areas that have
higher conservation value in terms of biodiver-
sity, while giving flexibility to the people pursu-
ing development.
References
Alexander James, Kevin J. Gaston, and Andrew
Balmford, January 2001, “Can We Afford to Con-
serve Biodiversity?” BioScience, Vol. 51 No. 1, Page:
43-52
Alho, CJR, 2008,” The value of biodiversity”, Braz.
J. Biol., 68(4, Suppl.): Page: 1115-1118
David A. Norton, 2008, “Biodiversity Offsets: Two
New Zealand Case Studies and an Assessment Frame-work”, Published: 23 August 2008, Springer Science
& Business Media, LLC
Gowdy, John M. 1997. ‘‘The Value of Biodiversity:
Markets, Society, and Ecosystems.’’, Land Economics
73 (Feb.): 25–41.
Hans-Peter Weikard, February 1, 2002,”Diversity
Functions and the Value of Biodiversity”, Land Eco-
nomics vol. 78 no. 1, Page 20-27
Hoffmann I. (2003),”Spatial distribution of cattle herds as a response to natural and social environ-
ments. A case study from the Zamfara Reserve, North-
west Nigeria”. Nomadic Peoples 6, 6–23.
Keekok Lee, Alan Holland and Desmond McNeill, 2000, “Global Sustainable Development in the 21st
century: Global Sustainable development its intellec-
tual roots”, Edinburgh University Press, Page: 30-47
Mainwaring, Lynn, 2001.” Biodiversity, Biocom-plexity, and the Economics of Genetic Dissimilarity”.
Land Economics 77 (Feb.): Page 79–93.
Paulo A.L.D. Nunes, Jeroen C.J.M. van den Bergh,
2001,” Economic valuation of biodiversity: sense or
nonsense?” Ecological Economics 39, Page: 203–222
ten Kate K, Bishop J, Bayon R (2004),”Biodiversity
offsets: views, experience and the business case”.
IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Insight Investment,
London, UK
Rosamond L. Naylor, Rebecca J. Goldburg, Jur-
genne H. Primavera, Nils Kautsky, Malcolm C. M.
Beveridge, Jason Clay, Carl Folke, Jane
Lubchenco, Harold Mooney & Max Troell ,” Effect
of aquaculture on world fish supplies” Nature 405,
Page 1017-1024, 29 June 2000
Vandermeer, J., Lawrence, D., Symstad, A. and
Hobbie, S. 2002.” Effects of biodiversity on ecosys-
tem functioning in managed ecosystems”. In: Loreau, M., Naeem, S. and Inchausti, P. (Eds.). Biodiversity
and Ecosystem Functioning. Oxford University Press,
Oxford, UK. pp. 157-168.
WILSON, EO. , 1992, “The Diversity of Life”. New
York: W.W.Norton & Company. Page: 424.
Weitzman, Martin L. 1992, ‘‘On Diversity’’. Quar-
terly Journal of Economics. 107 (May): Page 363–
405.
Page 10
NAYS e -Magazine , I ssue 3 , February—Apri l 2013
I have attended a workshop on 7th February,
2013 in National Institute for Biotechnology
and Genetic Engineering (NIBGE), Fais-
alabad. This was one day awareness workshop
on “Genotyping by Sequencing (GBS) and its
application in crop improvement’. Agricul-
tural Biotechnology Division of NIBGE organ-
ized this workshop. After registration session,
Hafiz Arshad recited some verses from Holy
Quran, and then participants provided their brief
introduction. After this, Dr. Sohail Hameed
(Director NIBGE) gave a warm welcome ad-
dress for all distinguished guests and partici-
pants. Dr. Sobia Ikram (Assitant professor,
NIBGE), who was also organizer of event gave
details of program and major aspects which
would be covered during workshops. First lec-
ture was delivered by Dr. Shahid Mansoor
(Sitara e imtiaz), who is working as Chief Sci-
entific Officer/ Head Agricultural Biotechnol-
ogy Division, NIBGE. He discussed whole
genome sequencing of crop plants and their
importance in developing countries like Paki-
stan. He also geve a brief and informative note
on history of genetics. A detailed recorded lec-
ture on genotyping sequene by Dr. Sharon
Mitchell (Research and Laboratory Manager,
Institute for Genomic Diversity, Cornell Uni-
versity) was also shared during workshop, she
provided complete procedure and protocol
about genotyping. Second session started after
refreshment, Dr. Muhammad Asif (Senior
Scientist) provided a detailed note on data
analysis in GBS. In addition, he discussed some
examples and plans of GBS in plants, after his
lecture students asked some important questions
about his talk, Dr. M Asif satisfied all partici-
pants by his knowledge, It was really a new
technique for all of us and the speaker drew our
full attention towards its importance. Associa-
tion Mapping using GBS and/or Single Nucleo-
tide Polymorphism (SNP) data was also a novel
approach and Mr. Javed Iqbal (PhD Scholar,
NIBGE) discussed his
research using these
techniques on size im-
provement of rice. Dr.
M. Arif (Principal Sci-
entist, NIBGE) gave
basic knowledge about
‘Tilling” and its applica-
tion in SNP Scoring and
gene identification, it
was a thought-provoking
knowledge and had a
great deals of informa-
tion for agronomists. Concluding ceremony was
inaugurated by Dr. Sobia Ikram after lunch
break, she also gave a brief overview of work-
shop activities, Dr. Mubarak Ali (Chief Execu-
tive, PARB) was the chief guest of event whe is
a senior member in Punjab Agriculture and
Research Board, he pleasely appreciated the
effort of NIBGE for organizing such events for
young researchers. Certificates were distributed
among participants and organizers and Director,
NIBGE submitted the vote of thanks. At the
end, audience shared their views about the said
event which were very encouraging for whole
organizing team; group photo was also taken
with guest, faculty members and participants.
Page 11
Zaryab Khalid Sial PhD Scholar, LCWU Lahore
Workshop Corner zaryab.syal@yahoo.com
Genotyping by Sequencing and its Application in Crop Improvement
Group photo of participants
Aftab Ahmed PhD Punjab University, Lahore (President NAYS)
Workshop/ Seminar Corner
Seminar on Palliative Cancer Care
A seminar was held on “Palliative Cancer Care”
at University of Health Science, Lahore. The
event was organized by Cancer Care Hospital
and Research Centre, Lahore which is project of
Cancer research and treatment foundation. Two
lectures on cancer status in Pakistan and pallia-
tive cancer care was delivered by Prof. Dr. Sha-
haryar (Professor of Oncology, King Edward
Medical University and President of the Cancer
Research and Treatment Foundation) and Dr.
Riaz ur Rehman (Oncology Department, Jinnah
Hospital, Lahore). During first lecture Prof.
Sheharyar highlighted the importance of more
cancer hospitals in Pakistan and also strongly
stressed on need for more research work in
Pakistan related to cancer. The statistics he
presented were frightening, according to him
there are 10 million new cases of cancer world-
wide and more than 50% die the same year and
this ratio is much more in developing countries
like Pakistan. He further added that there are
about 300,000 new cancer cases in Pakistan and
it result in more than 150,000 deaths each year
and one of big reason of high death rate is late
diagnosis of cancer and at this stage it becomes
un-treatable. According to him in Punjab only
there are 75 beds, 6 senior doctors and 10 junior
doctors for kids suffering from cancer which is
very less and in just Punjab province of Paki-
stan there are around 162,000 new cases of
cancer each year and we have facility of just
500 beds with only 35 specialist doctors in
this area.
NAYS e -Magazine , I ssue 3 , February—Apri l 2013
He added that we treat around 41,000 of total
cases and for rest we don’t know details that
what treatment they get or where they go. He
said there is only one bone marrow transplant
unit in whole Punjab which is at Armed Forces
Research Institute in Rawalpindi while there is
not a single unit in Lahore or any other big city
of Punjab. In order to have a comparison with
neighboring country India he added that there is
only 2 clinical research organization related to
cancer in Pakistan while India have over 4000
so there is great need to do more investment in
research and education related to oncology as
according to one survey Pakistan rank 162 in
the world related to cancer related knowledge
and education. Dr. Riaz ur Rehman added that
cancer is 2nd leading cause of death after cardio-
vascular diseases. According to him 1 in 5 peo-
ple suffer from cancer at some stage of life and
in developing countries mortality rate is very
high. He further added that there is no concept
of palliative cancer care in Pakistan and we
need to start it. He also said that palliative can-
cer care is not only good for patient and his
family but also it will reduce the economic
losses of government as otherwise patient in
late stages have to get medicine from multina-
tional companies and they cost in millions and
ultimately person die by cancer. He added that
cancer research and treatment foundation is
going to start a 400 beds hospital for cancer
patients in Lahore and they will also have pal-
liative care facility in this hospital which will be
first facility of this kind in Pakistan. At the end
of his presentation he also presented a model of
palliative cancer care and how we can involve
paramedical staff, volunteers, family physicians
and palliative care experts to give best treatment
to patients and it will result in pain free cancer
death and death with dignity which are recom-
mendations of World Health Organization
(WHO).
Page 12
Iqra Ejaz, Abeer Syed Faculty of Electronic Engineering, GIKI
Research Project in Human Computer Interaction siarcs2013@gmail.com
SI-ARCS: Sketch Interpretation and Rationale Capture System
Gone are the days when we humans had to
jump into the reality created by machines to be
able to use them. The recent past has shifted the
research focus to human centered computing in
an attempt to make the physical world around
us intelligent and perceptive. Advances have
been made to impart intelligence to the sur-
roundings. This way machines are made to un-
derstand and perceive the real world. Speech,
gesture and vision recognition, if embedded in
the real world, would revolutionize the research
in engineering.
With this consideration, the initiative that we
have taken under the supervision of Professor
M. Junaid Mughal intends to bring the idea of
intelligence embedded systems to the engineer-
ing researchers at undergraduate level. Our
team comprises of four senior year students of
the Faculty of Electronic Engineering at GIK
Institute: Abeer Syed, Ayesha Khan, Iqra Ejaz,
Tauqeer Hussain.
Our project entitled Sketch Interpretation and
Rationale Capture System (SI-ARCS) is an
innovative look into the future of educational
system in Pakistan. Developed from scratch,
this software-hardware amalgamation is aimed
to interpret and understand everything that is
drawn or written on any surface; ‘A surface that
is as natural and easy to draw on as paper, yet
that understands what you draw.’-Randall
Davis, CSAIL-MIT.
SI-ARCS makes any smooth physical surface
intelligent enough to understand and recog-
nize a free hand sketch drawn by a digital
pen. This assembly presents an innovative
way of Human Computer Interaction (HCI).
It reduces the effort splendidly for an instruc-
tor/student to choose a component from the
library; he can sketch it freehandedly and get
it recognized with the aid of SI-ARCS.
The idea is practically realized with the
clever combination of an IR pen
(transmitter), that sends the information
about its position via IR rays; an IR camera
(sensor), that captures the co-ordinates of the
IR pen and feeds this real time data to the
software in the PC; the developed application
that first interprets the figure and then swiftly
corrects it in real time; and the projector that
simultaneously displays the image on any flat
surface.
The software application that we have devel-
oped is capable of recognizing, interpreting and
correcting any freehand sketch. The software is
written in C# using .Net Framework. The
beauty of the software lies in its absorbability
i.e. many shapes/sketches can be added to its
database as per requirement to diversify its use
for sketch interpretation.
SI-ARCS serves as a platform for a diverse
range of applications. Therefore, this project has
excellent prospects of being launched on a com-
mercial scale. Not only does it serve as a won-
drous teaching aid for the instructors of the
engineering domain but it also provides an op-
portunity for it to be integrated with many simu-
lation softwares. Besides its applicability in
academia, SI-ARCS can be used by musicians
to have their notes interpreted or even by chil-
dren to doodle on walls with the inkless pen.
Our inspiration to choose the domain of HCI
and then develop SI-ARCS, was the current
research that is being conducted in the state-of-
the-art research facilities all around the world
including MIT, Stanford and Microsoft. We
aimed at bringing a user-friendly teaching aid
that would have both educational and commer-
cial utilities, within the reach of the institutes of
Pakistan. But the vision doesn’t end here.
For us, SI-ARCS is not just an idea, it’s a reali-
zation.
NAYS e -Magazine , I ssue 3 , February—Apri l 2013
Introduction
1. The threat of nuclear terrorism, especially
after 9/11, and the safety of nuclear installations
highlighted by nuclear disasters like Chernobyl
and Fukushima Nuclear Plant in 2011, has pro-
foundly changed the discourse of global regime
for nuclear safety and security. After the Fuku-
shima power plant disaster, the world leaders
sensed the urgency to discuss the issues of nu-
clear safety and security. In this regards, the
second Nuclear Security Summit (NSS) in 2012
was held in Seoul. With the participation from
more than 53 heads of state and different inter-
national organizations, the agenda of summit
was set to discuss three main issues. This in-
clude (1) Cooperative measures to combat the
threat of nuclear terrorism, (2) Protection of
Nuclear material and related facilities and (3)
Prevention of Illicit trafficking of nuclear mate-
rials. The basic purpose of arranging this sum-
mit was to give strength to the international
efforts to prevent nuclear materials from being
misused by terrorist groups. President Obama in
his Prague’s speech in 2009 highlighted the
serious threat—nuclear terrorism—to interna-
tional security. Above and beyond, he expressed
his will to create ‘World free of nuclear weap-
ons.’ Pakistan also participated in the summit,
where Prime Minister Yousad Raza Gillian
represented his country. Pakistan participation
in the summit shows Pakistan’s commitment
and motivation to strengthen international coop-
eration to prevent the non-state actors to misuse
nuclear materials for any malicious activities.
2. After the events of 9/11 in United States, the
Western world is now quiet apprehensive about
the security of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal. The
Western media, think tanks, newspapers and
their official reports painted a dark picture of
Pakistan’s nuclear weapons, falling in the hands
of radical, extremists, and fundamentalists Ji-
hadi networks, working in connection with Al-
Qaeda and Afghan Taliban. Scenarios were
developed about the possible theft of nuclear
materials or gaining access to nuclear weapons
by the extremist groups, might be facilitated by
some of the insiders as well outsiders, favorably
inclined towards Al-Qeada and Taliban’ politi-
cal and radical thoughts. On top of that, the
most discouraging scenario was developed por-
trays the fear of “radical Islamic movements
destabilize Pakistan,” and possibly transforms
“Pakistan into the first radical Islamic country
possessing nuclear weapons.” In addition, an-
other most heinous scenario about the security
of Pakistan nuclear arsenal was formulated—
“radical Islamic movements influencing mili-
tary people and or/scientists” to gain access to
the nuclear weapons and fissile materials.”
3. Despite possible concerns/scenarios about the
security of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal, the global
security threats or risks to nuclear materials or
nuclear installations/facilities as describes by
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in
“Nuclear Security Recommendation on Physical
Protection of Nuclear Material and Nuclear
Facilities;” are (a) the risk of unauthorized re-
moval of nuclear material with an intention to
engage in acts of nuclear terrorism, e.g. Radio-
active Dispersal Device (RDD) (b) risk of
physical attack or sabotage of nuclear installa-
tions; (c) risk of unauthorized removal of nu-
clear material for making Radioactive Dispersal
Device (RDD); and (d) theft or illegal transfer
of nuclear material or radioactive materials—
illicit trafficking.
Safety and Security Issues of Pakistan Nu-
clear Program.
1. The international propaganda campaign
against the safety and security of Pakistan’s
nuclear arsenal after the terrorist attacks on
Army General Head Quarters (GHQ) in 2009,
PNS Mehran attack in 2011, and Kamra Air
Base attack in 2012, has gained velocity. Over
and above, the increased number of terrorist
activities in the country, the political instability,
and the pace at which Pakistan is developing its
nuclear infrastructure, has also increased the
challenges to its nuclear safety and security
apparatus. Terrorist attack on Kamra Air Base
in 2012—the mostly deadly attack in recent
years—rejuvenates the global discourse regard-
ing the security of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons.
Prior to that, two attacks have already being
carried out on Kamra. As the result of 2012
Kamra Air Base attacks, new questions are
stirrer in the international media about terrorist
networks attacking and taking over Pakistan’s
nuclear arsenal
2. Pakistan has introduced an effective com-
mand and control structure in 2001. However,
with the passage of time, the global concerns
about Pakistan’s nuclear safety and security
were cultivated and scenarios were formulated
about the possibilities of terrorists getting nu-
clear materials from nuclear facilities, to make
nuclear explosion devices and RDD. Pakistan’s
nuclear program, for the last one and half dec-
ade, has got much attention and negatives pub-
licity from across the globe. During all this
propaganda campaign, there was not a single
credible day left when Pakistan did not defend
its nuclear program. The global propaganda
campaign coupled with deliberate piercing by
some “Pakistani nuclear pessimists,” has got
pace. In a recent interview with DAWN, Per-
vaiz Hoodboy hoists concerns about “Jihadi
Networks,” taking over key nuclear installations
to fulfill their political objectives. He deliber-
ately neglected Pakistan’s efforts to ensure the
nuclear safety and security of its nuclear arse-
nal. However, the question arises, are terrorists
networks attacking and taking over Pakistan
Nuclear weapons is a reality or it’s just a mere
myth?
3. P-5 nuclear weapons states have significant
number of nuclear weapons. On the other
hands, the de facto states –India, Pakistan, Is-
rael, and North Korea—are having sizeable
nuclear infrastructure. Pakistan falls under the
category of those states, which have not signed
Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) yet; however
Pakistan, has signed number of agreements with
the IAEA, based on guidelines contained in
Safeguards Document INFCIRC. Pakistan’s
plan to expand its nuclear program has come
under severe criticism, raising countless ques-
tions about its safety and security mechanism to
Page 13
Ahmad Khan Research Associate, Strategic Vision Institute Islamabad Twitter Handle@ahmadkhan000.
Full length research paper Field: Strategic and Security Studies
Ahmed_ishaq669@yahoo.com
Safety and Security of Pakistan’s Nuclear Program
NAYS e -Magazine , I ssue 3 , February—Apri l 2013
Page 14
guard its nuclear materials. However, President
Obama and to U.S officials have showed their
confidence in Pakistan’s nuclear security appa-
ratus.
Security System of Nuclear Weapons, Nu-
clear Materials, and Facilities:
1. In February 2000, Pakistan National Security
Council (NSC) established the National Com-
mand Authority (NCA), the apex civilian led
authority to supervise the employment, deploy-
ment, research and development, and command
and control structure of Pakistan nuclear pro-
gram. After its establishment, the NCA has took
measures for the safety and security of the nu-
clear arsenals, materials, and facilities, which
include the formalization of the nuclear safety
procedures, security of nuclear arsenals, physi-
cal protection, control, accounting and creation
of vital infrastructure and legislation. As Zafar
Nawaz Jaspal articulated, since the establish-
ment of Pakistan Nuclear Program, “it has insti-
tutionalized highly-secured system, which has
been improved gradually to thwart internal and
external security challenges,” posed to its nu-
clear program.
2. Security Division: The Security Division in
one the most important organs of the Strategic
Planning Division (SPD), responsible for the
security and protection of Pakistan nuclear arse-
nal, facilities and the entire strategic organiza-
tions. Today, the Security Division comprises
more than 20,000 highly trained, skillful secu-
rity personnel to guard the arsenal. Having said
so, these personnel are capable of protecting
both nuclear weapons and high sensitive strate-
gic facilities from any terrorist attacks. They are
trained to counter the terrorist attempt of sabo-
tage as well as any foreign power raid on the
nuclear facilities. This security division is
headed by a two Star General, who has his ‘eyes
and ears’ inside the strategic organizations.
3. Personal Reliability Program (PRP): “The
security clearance and screening processes of all
individuals for employment in the strategic
organizations has been further consolidated
through the enhancement of PRP. The SPD has
overall approval of key personnel and also re-
tains information on all retired personnel.” Be-
sides PRP for military personnel, SPD has also
introduced Human Reliability Program (HRP)
for civilian. All these efforts are made to pre-
vent the insiders’ link with any terrorist organi-
zations or groups. Any individual dispensed a
strategic task goes through multiple intelligence
agencies security clearances, which is very
much similar to the Unites States Safety and
Security System.
In Pakistan, The Warheads and the delivery
systems are separated from each other, so that
the chances of accidental or unauthorized
launch of the weapons can be prevented. Fur-
thermore, the individuals who have information
about the locations of the nuclear weapons are
strictly monitored and ought to be under con-
stant surveillance.
4. Physical Protection of Nuclear Facilities:
The Security Division is the solely responsible
for the physical protection of all the civilian and
military nuclear installations. Today, it is fully
established and operating a multilayered secu-
rity perimeter to protect the nuclear installa-
tions. The first layer encompasses of the secu-
rity personnel from the respective organization;
however, it works in coordination with the SPD.
Prior to that the providing security to the instal-
lations was the sole responsibility of the respec-
tive organization. In the Inner Perimeter, the
specially trained forces operate on a permanent
basis. In the Outer Perimeter, additional fencing
is being reinforced by installing closed circuit
cameras and electronic sensors. Besides inner
and outer security arrangements, an Air Defense
System around the particular nuclear facility is
also installed. The sensitivity of the nuclear
installations is protected by Air Defenses ele-
ments, and is designated as no-fly zones. The
last tier of the Physical Protection System con-
sists of counter-intelligence teams, who are
tasked to indentify the external threats to facili-
ties and provide covert security.
5. Transportation Security: While transport-
ing the nuclear materials—the nuclear waste,
and radioactive materials—can become a poten-
tial target for the terrorists. “The security and
protection of materials, such as Spent Nuclear
Fuel (SNF) and highly radioactive sources is
more difficult especially transit when in fixed
locations.” Pakistan has approved the Conven-
tion on Physical Protection of Nuclear Material
(CPPNM) during 2000, and worked to ensure
that it meets all the guidelines included in the
convection. In 2005, an amendment was intro-
duced in the convection; however, “officials are
also considering accession to the July 2005
amendments that are intended to strengthen the
CPPNM.” Above all, “specialist vehicles and
tamper-proof containers are provided for the
transportations of nuclear materials that are
escorted by military personnel.”
6. Fissile Material Protection, Control and
Accounting: The A.Q Khan Proliferation saga
has forced Pakistan to introduce strict measures
for protection of fissile material. Prior A.Q
Khan Chapter, there were no “formal reporting
channel of the apparatus” that could check the
account for shipments and personal travels. In
fact, no formal procedures existed for the physi-
cal protection and accounting (MPC&A). To-
day, the SPD has adopted strict measures to
conduct external audits on the nuclear invento-
ries, and implementing regular and surprise
inspections at all facilities.
7. Export Control Regimes: In 2001, Pakistan
established a Strategic Export Control Division
(SEDIV) in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The
SEDIV comprises of personnel form Customs,
Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Commerce, De-
fence, Federal board of Revenue. In addition,
the personnel from PEAC, PNRA, and SPD
also work in coordination with the rest of the
personnel. SEDIV operates independently so
that personnel will not face any conflict of inter-
est. To oversee SEDIV, a board is also formu-
lated, headed by the Foreign Secretary and other
high-level officials to implement of the act.
8. International Agreements to Prevent Nu-
clear Terrorism: Pakistan has joined the US
led Container Security Initiative (CSI) in 2006
and Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terror-
ism (GICNT) in 2007. Pakistan has also cooper-
ated with Secure Freight Initiative (SFI). Paki-
stan for the last one decade is actively partici-
pating in all these agreement to prevent the
nuclear or radiological terrorism23.
9. Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority
(PNRA): In 1994, Pakistan signed Convection
of Nuclear Safety (CNS). In order to fulfill the
obligation under CNS, each member state has to
establish an independent regulatory body. In
this regards, Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Body
came into being under Pakistan Atomic Energy
Commission (PAEC). “To further this process
of having independent regulatory infrastruc-
ture,” Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority
(PNRA) was established “after the promulga-
tion of PNRA Ordinance 2001.” PRNA is an
independent organization responsible for regu-
lating all the aspects of radiation and nuclear
energy.
NAYS e -Magazine , I ssue 3 , February—Apri l 2013
It issues licensed for export control of radiologi-
cal materials. Furthermore, it regulates, and
supervises all the matters relating to nuclear
safety and radiation protection. PNRA being a
multilateral coordinating agency is responsible
for interacting with domestic and foreign enti-
ties. “PNRA in coordination with IAEA evalu-
ates and submits reports in compliance with UN
Security Council Resolution 1540, which calls
for national measures to prevent non-state ac-
tors from obtaining highly dangerous weapons.”
10. Radiological Source Security: The PNRA
is tasked to protect workers in the facilities,
public, and the environment against accidental
or malicious acts involving nuclear materials
and facilities. It continuously reviews and up-
dates safety and security measures according to
recommendations and guidance received from
the IAEA. Pakistan has signed the CSI, which
provided radiation detectors at Karachi port.
Pakistan also participates in the IAEA Illicit
Trafficking Database, to share information on
incidents involving theft, loss, or pilferage of
radiological materials. Pakistan is working to
cooperate with the U.S. Department of Energy
on export and border control programs.
11. Nuclear Security Summit (NSS): Pakistan
has participated in two NSS in 2010 and 2012.
During his address in Seoul NSS Prime Minis-
ter Yousaf Raza Gillani said, “Pakistan has
taken effective measures which are the most
important part of its efforts to enhance nuclear
security.” He also said, “As we meet here, we
break new ground on the evolving global nu-
clear security architecture, the role of the IAEA,
a n d
p r o t e c -
tion of
nuclear
mate r i -
als and
radioac-
t i v e
sources.” Pakistan offered her support to the
international community in establishing Nuclear
Security Training and Support Centers. Besides,
Pakistan also agreed to deploy Portal Monitors
to detect smuggling of nuclear materials in or-
der to prevent the illicit trafficking.
12. Nuclear Plant Stress Test: After the Fuku-
shima power plant disaster, the debate about
safety of the nuclear power plants gained new
pace. Moreover, the debate was further fueled
right before the beginning of the NSS in Seoul.
Scores of concerns were raised in the world
about the safety of the nuclear energy. After
Fukushima, Pakistan immediately carried out
IAEA recommended ‘stress tests’ on its civilian
nuclear power plants, which were very success-
ful.
13. International Cooperation: Pakistan has
signed number of agreements with the IAEA
demonstrating its firm commitments, and strong
level of cooperation with the IAEA. The most
important agreement in this regard is the Tech-
nical Cooperation (TC). In addition, “Pakistan
is currently one of the top three recipient coun-
tries in terms of TC assistance and receives
around $ 2-3 million worth of Assistance annu-
ally.” “Pakistan was among the first countries
that submitted a report to the UN to fulfill its
obligations under the UNSCR 1540.” More to
the point, Pakistan has also applied Facility
Specific Safeguards (INFCIRC/66). “Pakistan
has also made political commitment to apply
the non-binding IAEA Code of Conduct on the
Safety and Security of Radioactive Sources and
also participates in the IAEA Illicit Trafficking
Database (ITDB).”
In October 2001, Pakistan also initiated a bilat-
eral dialogue with U.S to improve its nuclear
security. U.S officials have repeatedly ex-
pressed their satisfaction over nuclear safety
and security apparatus of Pakistan. On Septem-
ber 22, 2008, Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,
Admiral Michael Mullen described U.S. con-
cerns that,
to the best of my ability to understand it—and
that is with some ability—the weapons there
are secure. And, that even in the change of
government, the controls of those weapons
haven’t changed. Certainly at a worst-case
scenario with respect to Pakistan, I worry a
great deal about those weapons falling into the
hands of terrorists and either being proliferated
or potentially used. And so, control of those,
stability, stable control of those weapons is a
key concern. And I think certainly the Pakistani
leadership that I've spoken with on both the
military and civilian side understands that.
After the terrorist attack on the Minhas Air Base
in 2012, the State Department Spokeswoman
Victoria Nuland said that “We do talk about
these issues and support Pakistani efforts to
keep them secure — we have for quite a long,
long time. And we don’t have any reason to be
concerned at this moment.” During the Foreign
Ministry weekly press briefing, spokesperson
Moazzam Ali Khan said, “Pakistan’s strategic
assets are safe and sound and we have a robust
command and control in place, so nobody
should worry about the safety and security of
our nuclear assets.”
Conclusion: The terrorist attack on twin towers
and Fukushima power plant disaster has
changed the whole global discourse of the nu-
clear safety and security. Prior to Fukushima,
not much attention has been paid to the safety
of the nuclear power plants. On the other hand,
a lot debate has been carried out on the issue of
security of the nuclear arsenal. In this regards,
Pakistan has been made a punching pad. De-
spite the political turmoil and the country facing
both kinetic and non-kinetic threats, its nuclear
weapons are the jewel of her crown. In fact,
Pakistan has unearthed all the stones to make its
nuclear safety and security apparatus stringent.
Scenarios developed against the possible theft
of nuclear materials, and revolutionist group in
connection with military and persons working
inside the nuclear facilities .
Page 15
NAYS e -Magazine , I ssue 3 , February—Apri l 2013
References
1. “Overview,” thenuclearsecuritysummit.org, ac-
cessed on March 10, 2013, http://www.thenuclearsecuritysummit.org/eng_info/
overview.jsp.
2. Maurizio Martellini, “Nuclear Safety, nuclear sta-
bility and nuclear strategy in Pakistan: A concise
report of a visit by Landau Network-Centro Volta,” Pugwash Online, February 9-13, 2008, accessed on
February 25, 2013, http://www.pugwash.org/
september11/pakistan-nuclear.htm.
3. Ibid.
4. “Nuclear Security Recommendation on Physical
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Nuclear Security Series no.13, accessed on February
25, 2013, http://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/
publications/PDF/Pub1481_web.pdf, 3.
5. Naeem Salik and Kenneth N. Luongo, “Challenges for Pakistan’s Nuclear Security,” Arms Control Asso-
ciation, March 2013,
accessed on March 20, 2013, http://
www.armscontrol.org/
act/2013_03/Challenges-for-
Pakistans-Nuclear-
Security.
6. Ibid.
7. Many Western
experts believe that at
Kamra 100 nuclear warheads were stored,
and terrorists aimed to
attack the nuclear
arsenals. However,
according to Pakistani
official report is not credible and lacks
does not depicts the true picture of Pakistan nuclear
security apparatus. See Declan Walsh, “Militants attack Pakistani Air Base,” The New York Times,
August 16, 2012, accessed on March 10, 2013, http://
www.nytimes.com/2012/08/17/world/asia/pakistani-air-force-base-with-nuclear-ties-is-attacked.html?
_r=0.; Salik and Luongo, “Challenges to Pakistan
Nuclear Security.”
8. Zafar Nawaz Jaspal, “Pakistan’s nuclear weapons
safety and security,” The Nation, February 23, 2013, accessed on February 28, 2013, http://
www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-
english-online/columns/23-Feb-2013/pakistan-s-
nuclear-weapons-safety-and-security.
9. Pervaiz Hoodboy, interview to DAWN, DAWN, February 20, 2013, accessed on February 28, 2013,
http://dawn.com/2013/02/20/pervez-hoodbhoy-the-
bomb-is-immoral/.
10. Henry D. Sokolski, “Pakistan’s Nuclear Woes,” in
Pakistan’s Nuclear Future: Worries beyond War, (ed.) Henry D. Sokolski (United States: Strategic
Studies Institute, 2008), 5.
11. “Pakistan establishes Nuclear Control Body,”
Arms Control Today, March 2000, accessed on Febru-
ary 26, 2013, http://www.armscontrol.org/node/2899.
12. Zafar Nawaz Jaspal, “Pakistan’s nuclear weapons
safety and security,” The Nation, February 23, 2013, accessed on February 26, 2013, http://
www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-
english-online/columns/23-Feb-2013/pakistan-s-nuclear-weapons-safety-and-security; and also see
“Pakistan’s Nuclear Safety and Security: A Critical
Analysis,” Weekly Pulse, March 06, 2013, accessed on March 10, 2013, http://weeklypulse.org/
details.aspx?contentID=3368&storylist=1.
13. “Passing out of soldiers of Strategic Plans Divi-
sion held,” Pakistan Today, April 19, 2012, accessed
on February 27, 2013, http://paksoldiers.com/ispr-press-releases/passing-out-of-soldiers-of-strategic-
plans-division-held/.
14. Kenneth N. Luongo and Naeem Salik, “Building
Confidence in Pakistan’s Nuclear Security,” Arms
Control Today, December 1, 2007.
15. Jaspal, “Pakistan’s nuclear weapons safety and
security.”
16. Naeem Salik, The Genesis of South Asian Nuclear
Deterrence: Pakistan’s Perspective (Karachi: Oxford
University Press, 2009), 284.
17. Abdul Manan, “Preventing Nuclear Terrorism in
Pakistan: Sabotage of Spent Fuel Cask or a Commer-
cial Irradiation Source in Transportation,” in Paki-stan’s Nuclear Future: Worries Beyond War, ed.
Henry Sokolski (United States: Institute of Strategic
Studies Army War College, 2008), 235.
18. Luongo and Salik, “Building Confidence in Paki-
stan’s Nuclear Security.”
19. Jaspal, “Pakistan’s nuclear weapons safety and
security.”
20. Peter Levoy, “Islamabad’s Nuclear Posture: Its
Premises and Implementation,” in Pakistan’s Nuclear Future: Worries Beyond War, ed. Henry Sokolski
(United States: Institute of Strategic Studies Army
War College, 2008), 152.
21. “Strategic Export Control Division,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Government of Pakistan, accessed on
February 27, 2013, http://www.mofa.gov.pk/mfa/
pages/article.aspx?id=25&type=4.
22. Ibid.
23. Philip E. Coyle and Victoria Samson, “The Prolif-
eration Security Initiative: Background, history and
Prospects for the Future,” International Commission
on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament, 10.
24. Noreen Iftakhar, “Safety and Security of Paki-stan’s Civilian Nuclear Industry,” South Asian Strate-
gic Stability Institute, Research Paper no.31, 4.
25. Luongo and Salik, “Building Confidence in Paki-
stan’s Nuclear Security.” And also See “Safe Port Act
Reauthorization: Securing our Nation's Critical infra-structure,” United State Senate, Hearing before Com-
mittee on Commerce, Science and Transportation,
July 21, 2010, 29, accessed on March 1, 2013, http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-111shrg67271/html/
CHRG-111shrg67271.htm.
26. “Seoul Nuclear Security Summit,” Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, People’s Republic of China, March
28, 2012, accessed on March 2, 2013, http://
www.fmprc.gov.cn/eng/wjdt/2649/t920452.shtml.
27. “Seoul Summit: ‘Responsible’ Pakistan seeks civil nuclear tech,” The Express Tribune, March 27, 2012,
accessed on March 2, 2013, http://tribune.com.pk/
story/355715/seoul-summit-responsible-pakistan-
seeks-civil-nuclear-tech/.
28. Ibid.
29. Pakistan pledged to establish Nuclear Security
Training and Support Center within the region and outside the region in collaboration with 22 countries.
See Salik and Luongo, “Challenges for Pakistan’s
Nuclear Security.”
30. In an interview, Pakistan Ambassador to China Masood Khan, who was also the chief negotiator on
Nuclear Security Summit (NSS), told about the ‘stress
tests’ conducted by Pakistan on its nuclear power plants. See “Pakistan nuclear plants undergo stress
tests,” The Nation, March 25, 2012, accessed on
March 2, 2013, http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/international/25
-Mar-2012/pak-nuclear-plants-undergo-stress-tests.
31. Iftakhar, “Safety and Security of Pakistan’s Civil-
ian Nuclear Industry,” 14.
32. Jaspal, “Pakistan’s nuclear weapons safety and
security.” And also see “Pakistan nuclear plants un-
dergo stress tests,” The Nation, March 25, 2012, ac-cessed on March 2, 2013, http://www.nation.com.pk/
pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/
international/25-Mar-2012/pak-nuclear-plants-
undergo-stress-tests.
33. Iftakhar, “Safety and Security of Pakistan’s Civil-
ian Nuclear Industry,” 12.
34. Paul K. Kerr and Mary Beth Nikitin, “Pakistan’s Nuclear Weapons: Proliferation and Security Issues,”
Congressional Research Services, February 13, 2013,
accessed March 25, 2013, http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/nuke/RL34248.pdf, 1; Malik Qasim Mustafa, “Are
Pakistan’s Nuclear Weapons Safe,” Institute of Strate-
gic Studies, Islamabad, accessed on March 25, 2013, http://www.issi.org.pk/publication-
files/1299650081_87535106.pdf, 4.
35. “US confident of Pakistan nuclear security,” The
Express Tribune, August 17, 2012, accessed on
March 25, 2013, http://tribune.com.pk/story/423242/
us-confident-of-pakistan-nuclear-security/.
36. “Pakistan reiterates nuclear assets are safe,” The Express Tribune, August 16, 2012, accessed on
March 25, 2013, http://tribune.com.pk/story/422953/
pakistan-reiterates-nuclear-assets-are-safe/.
Page 16
NAYS e -Magazine , I ssue 3 , February—Apri l 2013
Page 17
Mehwish Tanveer*, Tariq Ali^, Munazza Khalid*, Daniya Anwer*, Anum Shahnawaz*, Huma Talib*, Israh Ausaf * *Pharm D Graduates, ^Assistant Professor DOW College of Pharmacy, DOW University of Health Sciences
Field: Pharmacy Research Article
mehwish.tanveer@hotmail.com
Wireless Drug Delivery System
An Innovative Approach and its Awareness among Health Care Professionals
ABSTRACT
Micro-electronic devices have become integral
part of our lives. This review examines emerg-
ing technology in drug delivery system that is
wireless controlled microchip technology. For
this purpose, a review based survey was con-
ducted to find the level of awareness among
health care professionals. Wireless drug deliv-
ery system (WDDS) is an innovative approach
to enhance patient compliance which is a major
issue especially in patients with chronic ail-
ments that require daily complex dosage regi-
men. The microchips devices implanted in pa-
tients and controlled by microprocessor wireless
communication. WDDS has the potential to
improve patient compliance. It is an ‘intelligent
system’ which provides real time dose schedule
tracking and physicians to adjust the treatment
while away from patient.
INTRODUCTION
A perspective drug delivery system may be
defined as mechanism to introduce therapeutic
agent into the body. Drug delivery systems had
an enormous impact on medical technology and
enabling the use of entirely new therapies [1].
Our lives have been revolutionized due to the
invention of micro-electronic devices. They are
present in our automobiles, cellular phones and
computers [2]. This stimulated the development
of innovative technologies in drug delivery
system. Recent advances created the possibility
to meet the patient need. For this a new drug
delivery system is designed that is wireless
control drug delivery system that works through
“microchip” [3].
Microchip: Microchips are smart medical im-
plants that can dispense drugs into the blood-
stream as a result of wireless signals sent to it
from the medical implant communication ser-
vice (MICS)[4]. These chips offer a range of
advantages including localized delivery, deliv-
ery on demand, controlled drug release, dose
checking and physician remotely adjust treat-
ment schedule [5]. This smart implant can be
injected under the skin in the doctor's office in
about 30 minutes using a local anesthetic and
lasts about four months before needing to be
replaced [7].
Need of Wireless Drug Delivery System:
Wireless drug delivery system has the potential
to improve patient compliance as it is a major
medical issue, especially in chronic diseases.
Such issues include simply forgetting (65%);
concerns about the drugs (45%) and feeling the
drug is unnecessary (43%) because of long term
and complex drug regimen [8]. Therefore, it is
of a great advantage to find a drug delivery
device that is capable of controlled release of a
wide variety of drugs that can be safely im-
planted inside the body [10]. If future research
is promising, the technology could be used to
treat a wide range of conditions that require
frequent or daily injections.
Food and Drug Administration Status To
achieve marketing approval, implantable drug
delivery devices are submitted to the Food and
Drug Administration (FDA) for approval as
combination products and expects to get the
device cleared by the FDA an in the market
sometime in 2014 [3].
Future Challenges and Opportunities: Hur-
dles in commercial development of drug deliv-
ery systems are that they are complex to eco-
nomically manufacture, high cost, invasiveness
and payload limitation. On the other hand, ele-
ments for successful implementation are proof
of technological feasibility, a regulatory ap-
proval, greater emphasis on advanced delivery
systems and capability to address significant
unmet medical needs [5].
METHODOLOGY
This review examines emerging technology in
drug delivery system. For this, articles from
wide range of sources were searched like pub-
med, springer link, google scholar, science
direct, wiley and other online libraries. Also a
survey was conducted to know the awareness
of latest technologies in our set up among
health care professionals and students by pro-
viding a 16-item based questionnaire. A total of
138 questionnaires were retrieved out of 200
with the response rate of 69%.
RESULTS OF AWARENESS SURVEY
It seems that overall response about the aware-
ness of WDDS is negative. About 72 % don’t
have any idea about WDDS, about 18% has
some idea and healthcare professionals do not
have enough knowledge and understanding
about DDS and WDDS. After giving some
information about the system, 75.3% show a
positive response towards the future applica-
tions of WDDS and about 24.7% show negative
response as they think that WDDS is difficult to
implement.
CONCLUSION
The convergence of drug delivery and elec-
tronic technologies gives physicians a real-time
connection to their patient’s health [3]. Techni-
cal success is a prerequisite but does not guar-
antee commercial success. Advanced drug
delivery development provides a mix of failures
Fig. 1 The Microchip implant contains 100 or
more tiny reservoirs curved into silicon wafer.
On wireless command the lid a sandwich of
platinum and titanium foil vaporizes and re-
leases the drug stored underneath
NAYS e -Magazine , I ssue 3 , February—Apri l 2013
and successes so it is difficult to predict the success of innovative prod-
ucts. So new technologies are only useful if they can be commercialized,
and drug delivery applications cannot be commercialized without a regu-
latory environment sufficiently adaptable to support marketing approval
of innovative products [5]. It seems to have an innovative discovery for
mankind which has pharmacy on a chip, enhancing patient compliance. In
a nutshell, microchip provides a new treatment option for clinicians where
sub-optimal performance of conventional dosing methods is inconvenient
in terms of safety, efficacy and pain. This avoids the compliance issue and
points to a future where you have fully automated drug regimens.
REFERENCES
1. David A Lanvan, Terry McGuire & Robert Langer “Small-scale systems for in-
vivo drugdelivery.”
2. Santini J, Richards AC, Scheidt R, Cima MJ & Langer R ”Microchips as con-
trolled drug delivery devices” Angew Chem.Int.Ed.2000,39,2396-2407.
3. Dolan B. “Results from wireless, implantable drug delivery device study”. Sci-
ence Transitional Medicine, 2012.
4. Johnson R.C. “Wireless Implant Meters Drug Doses”. 2012.
5. Staples M. “Microchips and controlled-release drug reservoirs”. Wiley online
library. 2010.
6. Maloney J. M. “an implantable microfabricated drug delivery system”. Interna-
tional Mechanical Engineering Congress. 2003.
7. Pandolfino J.E , Richter J.E , Ours T , Guardino J.M , Chapman J, Kahrilas P T.
“Ambulatory Esophageal pH Monitoring Using a Wireless System”. The American
Journal of Gastroenterology (2003) 98, 740–749.
8. Wertheimer A. “Medication Compliance Research: Still So Far to Go”. Journal
of Applied Research.
9. Maloney J.M, Uhland S, Polito b, Sheppard N, Pelta C, Santin J.T. “Electro
thermally activated microchip for implantable drug delivery & biosensing, journal
of controlled release, 109 244-255,2012.
10. Viral Shah, Kruti Patel, U.M. Upadhyay “Injecting New Ideas Into Drug-
Delivery Systems-A Brief Review on Microchips as Controlled Drug-Delivery
System”. The Pharma Review, JAN 2010.
11. Trafton A. “MIT News Office Clinical trial of the programmable, implantable
device shows promise in treating osteoporosis”.
12. Laura J, Martin M. “Drug-Delivery Microchip Could Replace Daily Injec-
tions”.
13. Boyle R. “A wirelessly controlled pharmacy dispenses drug from within your
abdomen”. 2012.
14. Johnson R.C. “Wireless Implant Meters Drug Doses”. 2012.
15. “Improving patient compliance with low-cost wireless technologies”. 2006.
16. Lavan D, Mcguire T, Langer R. “Small scale system for in vivo drug delivery”.
Nature biotechnology.
17. Rebecca Boyle “A Wirelessly Controlled Pharmacy Dispenses Drugs From
Within Your Abdomen”, 2012 Feb.
Page 18
Fig. 3 Mechanism of the drug introduction and release in body
Fig. 2. Pharmacy inside your body
NAYS e -Magazine , I ssue 3 , February—Apri l 2013
Page 19
Muhammad Ali Lecturer, Institute of advanced materials, BZU, Multan ali_10m10@yahoo.co.uk
Scientific Article Material Sciences
The Story of Frozen Smoke
In late 1920’s, a professor of chemistry S. S.
Kistler and his colleague professor S. Learned
bet over the reason behind the stability of gel
like matter (jelly/semi-solid). The former justi-
fied it as the function of structural network of
microscopic pores, whereas the latter, nullifying
the role of porous structure, attributed the semi-
solid behaviour to properties of the liquid it
contains. To prove his proposition, Kistler went
on to remove the liquid component (alcohol)
from the silica-gel. The problem he faced in
doing so was quite expected that the conven-
tional evaporation of the liquid rendered the
structure to collapse. After several attempts he
succeeded in his objective and formed a mate-
rial having structure of a gel but with no liquid
contents. Removal of liquid from alcogel (silica
-gel with alcohol inside the pores) was con-
ducted through ‘supercritical drying’ employ-
ing the combined action of temperature and
pressure. As the alcohol was replaced with air
in the gel, so the alco with aero in the terminol-
ogy.
Common types and properties: Aerogels can
contain up to 96% of air in the nano-pockets
resulting in the lowest density solid and hence
the nickname frozen smoke or solid smoke. Gen-
erally, these materials exhibit excellent durabil-
ity, high strength coupled with brittleness, in-
credibly large surface area and fire proof char-
acteristics (except those made from carbon-
based materials). Aerogels can be made from
silica, metal oxides (iron oxide, alumina,
chromia and so on), polymers and carbon-based
materials. Silica aerogels, the most common
type, have translucence and insulating proper-
ties. They are used in building and window
glass and tennis rackets etc. They are light blue
in colour; the reason for which is same as for
the colour of sky (i.e. Rayleigh scattering).
Aerogels made from metal oxides can be mag-
netic in nature and found prominent uses in the
production of carbon nanotubes and catalyst
carriers in chemical industry. Among the
aerogel community, multiwalled carbon nano-
tube (MWCNT) aerogels, in the monolithic
form, are the lightest with density as low as 4
mg/cm3. Their major applications include elec-
tronic components, super-capacitors, fuel cells
and sensors to detect toxic substances. CNT-
based aerogels can be made super-elastic by
infusing a compatible polymeric material
therein. Experiments have been conducted
showing successful preparation of flexible and
non-fragile aerogels (x-aerogels).
Aerogels in space: In studying the chemical
reactions, often the gravitational effect is ne-
glected. But its influence on the pores character-
istics of aerogels has been proved from the ex-
periments conducted in space (under zero grav-
ity) during 1998-99 space mission. Regardless
of its ultra-high cost, it is a standalone material
in many high-tech applications. It is a best
space-dust collector offering excellent perform-
ance even against the speedy comets. Its ability
to retain properties at elevated temperatures
makes it a perfect insulating material for electri-
cal machinery of space rovers and for heat
shields of the same.
Future implications: Despite of the unique
properties of aerogels, the only hindrance to
their adaptability on commercial scale is heavy
(not merely high) cost associated with quality
synthesis. Currently it costs more than double
the price of gold. Once it becomes cost efficient
for public approach it would be seen in sundry
everyday usables such as cosmetics, wetsuits,
fire-fighter suits, windows, paints, tennis rack-
ets and so on. Due to high surface area, strength
and translucence, it can be a good material to
support photocatalyst to convert water into hy-
drogen and oxygen thereby operating a fuel cell.
If becomes possible on large scale, it will be a
revolution in green energy.
Want to make aerogel? Putting the quality
issue aside, silica aerogels can be synthesised
conveniently. What required for accomplishing
it are basic understanding of sol-gel chemistry
to prepare the gel and an autoclave for super-
critical cooling. In lieu of alcohol, use of ace-
tone or supercritical carbon dioxide makes the
process less hazardous. However, precautionary
measures must be exercised as silica fumes may
be carcinogenic.
References: 1. Nature 127, 741 2. ACS Nano, 4(12), 7293 – 7302
Sheeba Wajid Student M.Sc. Biochemistry, University of Karachi
Scientific article/ Biomedical Sciences Sheeba_wjid@yahoo.com
Diabetes Mellitus
What is Diabetes?
Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease in
which blood glucose level becomes high,
either because some special type of cells
(the islet of Langerhans’s cells) of pancreas
do not secrete enough insulin or pancreatic
beta cells do not respond towards insulin.
Classification of Diabetes Mellitus
Diabetes is generally grouped into two
major types. The first one is insulin de-
pendent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) and
the other is non-insulin dependent diabe-
tes mellitus (NIDDM). Another type is
also known and that is gestational diabe-
tes. In type-1 diabetes, the beta cells that
synthesize insulin get destroyed. This type
of diabetes strats in early childhood. Symp-
toms of IDDM may include rapid weight
loss, frequent urination, increased hunger,
increased thirst, blurred vision and tired-
ness. It is treated by diet and regular exer-
cise is recommended.
NAYS e -Magazine , I ssue 3 , February—Apri l 2013
On the other hand, Type-2 or non-insulin-
dependent (NIDDM) diabetes is more
common than type-1 diabetes. In this kind
of disease, either the pancreas does not
make enough insulin or the body cells do
not respond to insulin. Symptoms of type-2
diabetes are closely similar to that of Type-
1 diabetes. Long term effects include heart
disease, kidney problems and other disor-
ders of vision and nerve damage. It is
treated by diet, exercise, medications and
insulin injections and by controlling
weight. While Gestational diabetes is dif-
ferent from other types as it occurs in some
pregnant women. It can also be cured by
diet, exercise and weight loss. It is unique
in the sense that it usually disappears after
childbirth.
Prevalence Rate of Diabetes Mellitus
Prevalence rates of diabetes mellitus vary
amongst populations. Pronounced changes
in our surroundings and new generation
lifestyle cause globalization and due to
this, both obesity and diabetes rates greatly
increase. Hence a new word ‘diabesity’ has
also been introduced for the aforemen-
tioned disease. It has been estimated by the
World Health Organization (W.H.O.) that
the global number of diabetic persons will
become double over the next 25 years. In
Sindh province of Pakistan, the prevalence
of Type-2 DM was 13.9% and in Baluchis-
tan, it was 8.6%.
Alternative Medicines
The use of alternative medicines
has increased throughout the world for
treatment of diabetes mellitus. The use of
such type of medicines can be differenti-
ated into pharmacological category
(namely herbal treatments), physical reme-
dies (acupuncture) and dietary approaches.
Some plants have been shown to contain
hypoglycemic agents. Such plants include
Aloe vera, Osmium sanctum, Trigonella
foenum-graecum, Ficus carica, Opuntia
streptacantha, Gymnema sylvestre and
Momordica charantia. These plants have
been regarded to have potent anti-diabetic
activity.
Diabetic Meal Plan
If you intend to control your
blood sugar, you should focus on foods
that your body digests slowly but make
sure that the foods should be nutritious too.
Beans are rich in fiber that decrease your
digestion process. Grains are also high in
fiber and are able to lower glycemic index.
Some of the fruits and vegetables
(broccoli, bell peppers, onions, string beans
and eggplant are typically low in calories)
are also a good source of lowering weight.
With these foods there are some high gly-
cemic index foods. Diabetics should avoid
white rice, white pasta, white flour, white
sugar, caffeine foods, alcohol and artificial
sweeteners.
Who Can Exercise?
It is advisable by the doctors to the patients
to do exercise when they have less blood
sugar level than 250 mg/dl.
Exercise should be avoided in case of
health problems including damage to the
blood vessels of the eye, damage to the
nerves and circulation to extremities, kid-
ney damage and cardiovascular problems
such as angina, embolism.
Some Precautions For Diabetics Who
Exercise
To avoid injuries and wounds in feet, wear
protective foot wears.
People with diabetes should monitor their
blood glucose level carefully before, dur-
ing, and after workouts.
If your glucose levels are above 300 mg/dl
or under 100 mg/dl you should avoid exer-
cise.
Insulin should be injected away from the
muscles to avoid hypoglycemia.
Before exercising, diabetics should avoid
alcohol and beta-blockers, which is the
major cause to increase hypoglycemia.
Page 20
NAYS e -Magazine , I ssue 3 , February—Apri l 2013
Dr. Wasim Ahmad is a well known name in
biological sciences in Pakistan. He is an HEC-
Distinguished National Professor; currently
serving as a Tenured Professor at the Depart-
ment of Biochemistry, Faculty of Biological
Sciences, Quid-e-Azam University, Islamabad.
Prof. Dr. Wasim Ahmad was born on May 2,
1957 in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He
received his early education from Peshawar. He
completed his M.Sc. in 1981 from Department
of Biological Sciences, Quaid-I-Azam Univer-
sity Islamabad. He then chose the same depart-
ment to complete his M.Phil. in biochemistry/
molecular biology in 1984 and then left to Eng-
land for Ph.D. and got admission in Department
of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge,
England. He completed his Ph.D. in 1990.
Prof. Dr. Wasim Ahmad got Postdoctoral Re-
search Experience from prestigious institutions
like MRC-Molecular Medicine, Royal Post-
graduate Medical School, London (1990-1992);
University of South Alabama, Mobile, Alabama
USA (1992-1994); Telethon Institute of Genet-
ics and Medicine (TIGEM), Italy (1997); and
Department of Dermatology Columbia Univer-
sity New York (1997-1999).
Prof. Wasim Ahmad started his career as a re-
searcher after completing his Ph.D. He has been
a postdoctoral research fellow in well known
international institutions for many years. He
returned to Pakistan after twelve years of re-
search and joined his parent institution Quaid-I-
Azam University as assistant professor, Depart-
ment of Biological Sciences in 1999. He
worked for three years and then promoted to
Associate Professor in the same department in
2003.
Department of Biochemistry was established in
2006 in Quid-I-Azam University and since then
Dr. Wasim Ahmad is working as a Professor of
Biochemistry there.
Prof Dr. Wasim Ahmad is actively engaged in
scientific research. His main areas of interest
are Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of
inherited Diseases. He has completed a number
of projects funded by Higher Education Com-
mission (HEC), Pakistan and Pakistan Science
Foundation (PSF). These include Identification
and Cloning of Inherited Alopecia, Ectodermal
Dysplasia and Nail Dysplasia Genes (2002-
2005), Identification of Genes Involved in He-
reditary Hearing Impairment (2003-2005)
funded By Higher Education Commission
(HEC), Pakistan and Identification of Loci/
Genes in Five Pakistani Kindred’s with Ecto-
dermal Dysplasia (2000-2003) funded by Paki-
stan Science Foundation (PSF). He also com-
pleted a project namely Identification of Loci/
Genes in Pakistani Kindreds showing hereditary
hearing impairment in 2002 funded by Quaid-I
-Azam University Research Fund .
In addition, he has internationally funded and
completed projects to his credit, namely Identi-
fication of Loci/Genes in Pakistani Kindreds
with Inherited Neurological Disorders (2001-
2004) Funded by ISESCO Rabat Morocco. He
is also heading two ongoing projects, Identifica-
tion of Non-syndromic Hearing Loss Genes
(2005-2016), funded by National Institutes of
Health (NIH) Maryland-Bethesda USA and
Identification of Genes Involved in Human Skin
Disorders Funded by HEC.
He is also actively engaged in teaching to
M.Sc., M. Phil., and Ph.D. levels. His main
interests in teaching are Nucleic Acids, Protein
Chemistry and Molecular Biology of Gene Ex-
pression and Structure.
He has supervised 25 PhD students and 103
M.Phil. students so far. To his credit there are
over 158 publications in reputed National/
International Journals.
Prof. Dr. Wasim Ahmad is a Fellow of Pakistan
Academy of Science since 2010 and a Member
of American Society of Human Genetics, USA
since 2009. He has been an editor and reviewer
of international journals.
He has been an Associate Editor of BMC
Medical Genetics London-UK, and reviewing
papers published in the following international
journals: American Journal of Human Genetics
USA, American Journal of Medical Genetics-
USA, Pediatric Dermatology-USA, Human
Genetics-Germany, Journal of Medical Genetics
-UK, British Journal of Dermatology-UK, Mo-
lecular Vision UK, Clinical and Experimental
Dermatology-UK, European Journal of Derma-
tology-UK, BMC Medical Genetics-UK, Mo-
lecular Biology Reporter Australia, Archives of
Dermatological Research-Germany, Journal of
Dermatological Science-Japan, Journal of the
European Academy of Dermatology and
Venereology France.
He is a recipient of many national and interna-
tional awards. He won “Overseas Research
Students (ORS) Award” in 1986. He was also
awarded Dermatology Foundation Award
(Dermik Laboratories Research Grant New
York, USA) in 1999. The Government of Paki-
stan awarded him Sitara-e-Imtiaz in recognition
of his services in 2001. He is an HEC National
Distinguished Professor since 2005 and won
HEC Best Teacher award in 2010. He has also
won a Gold Medal from Pakistan Academy of
Sciences in 2007.
Prof. Dr. Wasim Ahmad is an amazing teacher,
and has been a source of motivation and inspira-
tion for his students. He is a very knowledge-
able person with a passion for both teaching and
research. He is a great asset in the field of Bio-
logical Sciences in Pakistan.
Page 21
Biography of Dr. Wasim Ahmad
Prof. Dr. Wasim Ahmad
Aliya Farooq NAYS Publication team
Biography of eminent Scientist
NAYS e -Magazine , I ssue 3 , February—Apri l 2013
Page 22
Syyada Samra Jafri Project Coordinator, NAYS Naey Charagh
Naey Charagh
Naey Charagh — Dr. Hidayat Hussain
In the world of science and technology, Paki-
stani Scientists are playing a prominent role.
One such Pakistani eminent scientist, Dr. Hi-
dayat Hussain, was born in a small village of
Parachinar, Pakistan and where he also received
his basic education. He received his B.Sc. de-
gree from Postgraduate College Parachinar and
his M.Sc. degree from Gomal University Dera
Ismail Khan, Pakistan. He received his Ph.D
degree in 2004 under the supervision of Prof.
Dr. Viqar Uddin Ahmad at H.E.J. Research
Institute of Chemistry, International Center for
Chemical Sciences, University of Karachi,
Pakistan with a thesis on phytochemical investi-
gation of terrestrial plants of Pakistan and syn-
thesis of organotin complexes.
From June 2004 to September 2007 he was a
postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pader-
born, Germany, under the supervision of Prof.
Karsten Krohn. During this postdoctoral study
he has worked on Natural Product Chemistry
(Isolation and characterization of bioactive
natural products from plants and from Endo-
phytic fungi) and Synthetic Chemistry
(Synthesis of orthoquinones, phenazines, hy-
droxy napthoquinone derivatives, and quinoline
-5,8 dione derivatives as potential anti malarial
drugs; synthesis of phmosine derivatives). He
isolated more than hundred natural products
from natural sources and showed anticancer,
antimalarial, and antimicrobial activities. On the
other hand some of his synthesized compounds
showed very strong antimalarial activity against
Chloroquine resistant strain Plasmodium falci-
parum. In October 2007 he moved to the Uni-
versity of Maine France under Region Pays de
la Loire postdoctoral scholarship for one year
and worked on topic “Asymmetric Robinson
annulation via [4+2] heterocycloaddition and
design and synthesis of Tin catalyst for [4+2]
heterocycloadditions in the group of Dr. Gilles
Dujardin, Laboratory of Organic Synthesis. In
December 2008, he rejoined the group of Prof.
Karsten Krohn University of Paderborn Ger-
many as senior research scientist (group leader),
working until October 2010.
His "road of life" has been interesting, challeng-
ing and always rewarding. The steps along the
way that have led to this point in his life are, in
some ways, very different than he had imag-
ined; however, he likes who he is today in part
because of his parents and elder brother who
encouraged him to do more what he thought to
do. All he had was a big dream of his mother,
Mir Janana, late father, Habib Ullah Khan and
elder brother Muhammad Hayat Khan and it
was their dream which came true when Dr.
Hidayat obtain Ph. D degree in Organic Chem-
istry.
Currently, he is working at the Department of
Biological Sciences and Chemistry, University
of Nizwa, Oman. His research goals are to util-
ize principles, tools, methodologies and diverse
wealth of medicinal chemistry, natural product
chemistry and organic synthesis in order to
contribute to the understanding and solving the
biological problems together with global com-
munity of scientists. His research interests in-
clude design and synthesis of anticancer, anti-
malarial, anti-diabetic, and antimicrobial com-
pounds, asymmetric catalysis of [4 + 2] hetero-
cycloadditions, total synthesis of anthrapyran
antibiotics, and biodiversity and characteriza-
tion of natural products produced by endophytic
microorganisms and plants.
To date he has authored and co-authored over
140 scientific publications in reputed interna-
tionally peer reviewed research journals cumu-
lative impact factor of over 275 along with over
850 citations. He is given 15 podium lectures at
International Conferences and also he is a refe-
ree for more than 15 international journals. He
was listed in prestigious Marquis Who’s Who in
Science and Engineering and Marquis Who’s
Who in the World and is included in these print
directories on the basis of the reference values
of his achievements and research contributions.
He was also nominated for 2000 outstanding
scientist 2008/2009 by International Biographic
Center Cambridge England.
Despite the fact that talented people need direc-
tion and training, however, self-motivation,
strong determination and patience can get most
of the job done.
Quick Facts
Name: Dr. Hidayat Hussain
Birth Date: 27th July 1974
Education:
PhD Organic Chemistry
Current Position:
Visiting Scientist (Visiting Fac-
ulty), Department of Biological
Sciences and Chemistry, Uni-
versity of Nizwa, Nizwa, Sul-
tanate of Oman
Research Achievements:
To date he has authored and co-
authored over 140 scientific
publications in reputed interna-
tionally peer reviewed research
journals cumulative impact fac-
tor of over 275 along with over
850 citations.
NAYS is the torch-bearer in mobilizing young scientists; researchers, professionals and schol-
ars on a platform by providing them an enabling environment to collabo-
rate and exchange their fruitful innovative ideas and information in mul-
tidisciplinary science domains. These Scientists are supported by an ad-
visory council that includes crew of highly qualified professors for their
guidance. It is helpful for young researchers for their advancement, to
enrich their knowledge and to prove their flair in research oriented sub-
jects. Moreover, NAYS firmly believes that engaging young scientists (and utilizing their capa-
bilities by better orientation, improvisation and execution would definitely bring a remarkable
boom of science and technology in Pakistan.
NAYS e -Magazine , I ssue 3 , February—Apri l 2013
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