Obaid Siddiqi

Obaid Siddiqi FRS (7 January 1932 – 26 July 2013) was an Indian National Research Professor and the Founder-Director of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) National Center for Biological Sciences. He made seminal contributions to the field of behavioural neurogenetics using the genetics and neurobiology of Drosophila.

Early life and education Obaid Siddiqi was born in 1932 in Basti district of Uttar Pradesh. He received his early education at Aligarh Muslim University where he completed his MSc He completed his PhD at the University of Glasgow, under the supervision of Guido Pontecorvo. He carried out his post doctoral research at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, and University of Pennsylvania. He was invited by Homi Bhabha to set up the molecular biology unit at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) in Bombay in 1962. Thirty years later, he became the founding director of the TIFR National Center for Biological Sciences in Bangalore, where he would continue his research into his final days of life.

Research Siddiqi's studies in the field of neurogenetics unravelled the link between genes, behaviour and the brain. In the 1970s, his work with Seymour Benzer at Caltech led to the discovery of temperature-sensitive paralytic Drosophila mutants and the generation and transmission of neural signals. This heralded the dawn of the field of neurogenetics.

At TIFR, Siddiqi and his graduate student, Veronica Rodrigues, isolated and characterized the first collection of mutants with defects in smell and taste in Drosophila. Siddiqi's work in neurogenetics led to the foundational advances in understanding how taste and smell are detected and encoded in the brain.

Awards and honours The President, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam presenting Padma Vibhushan to Prof. Obaid Siddiqi, an eminent scientist, at investiture ceremony, in New Delhi on 29 March 2006 President of the Indian Academy of Sciences Member, Royal Society, London Member, US National Academy of Sciences, Washington Member, Third World Academy, Trieste Visiting professorships at Yale University Visiting Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Visiting Professor, The California Institute of Technology Visiting Professor, Cambridge University Twice Sherman Fairchild Distinguished Scholar at Caltech Sir Syed Ahmad Khan International Award for Life Sciences 2009 Padma Vibhushan, 2006 Dr. B. C. Roy Award, 2004 Sir Syed Life Time Achievement Award, AMUAA New York, 2004 Pride of India Award, AFMI, USA, 2004 INSA Aryabhata Medal 1992; Goyal Prize 1991; Birla Smarak Kosh National Award 1989; Padma Bhushan 1984; Bhatnagar Award 1976; Life member of Clare Hall, Cambridge. Honorary D.Sc., Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh Honorary D.Sc., Banaras Hindu University, Benaras Honorary D.Sc., Jamia Hamdard, Delhi Honorary D.Sc., Kalyani University, Kalyani Honorary D.Sc., Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay Honorary D.Sc., Jamia Milia, Delhi Honorary D.Sc., Central University of Hyderabad

Death Siddiqi died on 26 July 2013 in Bangalore following a freak road accident on 21 July 2013 which caused severe damage to the brain. He is survived by his wife Asiya, sons Imran and Kaleem, and daughters Yumna and Diba.

Selected publications

Siddiqi, O. (1983) Olfactory Neurogenetics of Drosophila. Symposium on Neurogenetics. XV International Congress of Genetics. Genetics: New Frontiers. Oxford, Delhi. Vol. III 243–261.

Siddiqi, O. (1988) Genetic Variation in Drosophila chemoreception. Genetics and Immunology of Chemical Communication. Monell Research Center, Philadelphia. Ayyub, C., Paranjape, J., Rodrigues, V. & Siddiqi, O. (1990). Genetics of olfactory behavior in Drosophila melanogaster. J. Neurogenet. 6: 243–262. Siddiqi, O.(1990) Olfaction in Drosophila. Chemical senses Vol. 3 Eds. Wyzocki et al. Marcel Dekker, NY, 79–96. Jayaram, V.C. and Siddiqi, O. (1997). gustJ a salt insensitive mutant of Drosophila. Journal of Genetics, 76: 133–145. Bala, A.D.S., Panchal, P. and Siddiqi, O. (1998). Osmotaropotaxis in the larva of Drosophila melanogaster. Current science, 75: 48–51. Mistry, Y., R. Mistry, and O. Siddiqi, O. (2000). Evidence of age-related changes in the antennal glomeruli of Drosophila melanogaster using monoclonal antibodies. Arthropod Structure and Development. Vol.29 (2) 101–110. Khurana S, Abu Baker MB, Siddiqi O. (2009). Odour avoidance learning in the larva of Drosophila melanogaster. J. Biosci. 34: 621–631. Chakraborty TS, Goswami S.P, Siddiqi O. (2009). Sensory correlates of imaginal conditioning in Drosophila melanogaster. J. Neurogenet. 23: 210–219. Iyengar A, Chakraborty TS, Goswami SP, Wu CF, Siddiqi O.(2010) Post-eclosion odor experience modifies olfactory neuron coding in Drosophila. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U S A. 107(21):9855-60.