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Biochemistry in the University of Ghana
BIOCHEMICAL EDUCATION
BIOCHEMISTRY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF GHANA
The teaching of biochemistry in developing countries is often beset by difficulties arising from an insufficient n u m b e r of indigenous and well-trained staff, lack of sophisticated equipment, restricted libraries, a feeling of isolation a n d so on. One way of helping is for biochemists from older departments in other countries to join the p e r m a n e n t staff in the developing countries. Articles have been published 1,2 in Biochemical Education by two people who have done this - - Professor Manchester who went to the University of the West Indies and Dr. Mark Carroll at the University of Nairobi. Another way of helping is to establish a link between biochemistry departments in different countries which can lead to a rather flexible and two-way exchange of ideas and personnel. As an illustration of this method, an account follows of a link between the departments of biochemistry in the University of G h a n a at Legon which is near Accra in south G h a n a and that in the University of Leeds in northern England. The link between the departments of Biochemistry has existed since 1967, when Professor Happold, on his retirement from the Leeds chair, went to G h a n a to advise on the reorganisation of the biochemistry section of the Legon department of Biochemistry, Nutrition and Food Science. Nutrition and especially Food Science were well endowed with staff and apparatus, through the generosity of the Canadian government and the University of Guelph, but Biochemistry was understaffed and ill-equipped. In addition to teaching science students, the biochemists were also responsible for lecturing to the preclinical medical students at Legon, and for organizing their practical course at the medical school at Korle Bu 12 miles away. The large work load of the small and inexperienced staff of biochemists presented an urgent problem. As an immediate answer to the manpower problem, Professor Happold invited members of his old department to teach in Legon for periods up to six weeks in the first and second terms. Leave of absence was granted and the University of G h a n a provided return tickets on G h a n a Airways. Visiting lecturers were accommodated in the University Guest Flats (built with funds from the Ford Foundation) at Legon. The first visitor was Dr. Kilby in January 1968, followed by myself in October of the same year. On arrival, I was introduced to 22 third year students and three biochemistry finalists. Between us, we worked out a timetable that would make optimal use of my time during the next five weeks. For the practical work we h a d a n u m b e r of Eel colorimeters and lowspeed bench centrifuges. There was a decaying preparative ultracentrifuge that did not work, and an equally moribund Beckmann UV spectrophotometer was languishing in a corner of the Food Science section. Radiocounting depended upon two lead castles with very old, malfunctioning scalers. All apparatus seemed to suffer from the indigenous West African disease of LOSP 3. A shortage of sterling and dollars restricted the quantity of chemicals and apparatus that could be bought. Direct orders to Europe were sometimes ignored, because firms doubted the ability of the G h a n a i a n s to pay promptly in hard currency, and orders placed through an agency in Accra took between six months and a year to arrive. If a small item were needed, an expatriate might accompany the order with a personal cheque against his U.K. bank account. Using materials that I had brought from Leeds, the finalist students started to purify ornithine transcarbamylase from rat liver. They had just reached the point of converting ornithine and C-14 labelled carbamylphosphate into citrulline, when, as a result of student demonstrations, the University was closed. This was my first, but by no m e a n s last encounter with W A W A 4. All students were forbidden access to the c a m p u s and I lost my third year class completely. They returned to their home villages, sometimes as far
October 1977 Vol. 5 No. 4
79
T. A. SCOTT D e p a r t m e n t of B i o c h e m i s t r y T h e U n i v e r s i t y of L e e d s England
as four h u n d r e d miles away in the Upper Region of G h a n a . However, my three finalists found accommodation with friends or relatives in Accra and some "illegal" tutorial classes were arranged in my flat and some practical work in the hospital laboratories. Realizing, however, that the connection would lapse after Professor Happold finished his advisory three years, our new head of department, Professor P. N. Campbell, asked the Interuniversities Council (IUC) in London early in 1969 to consider taking financial responsibility for our efforts in Legon. Thus, the "Leeds-Ghana Link" became the formal title of an IUC-sponsored scheme. Since the link came into operation in 1969, twelve staff have visited Legon (including brief visits by Prof. Campbell in 1971 and 1974 to review the link); five Legon staff have visited Leeds for periods varying from a few weeks to 6 months; three Ghanaian technicians have been to us for training; and Legon's first Ph.D. biochemistry student spent one year of his research in our laboratories. The 1UC has also obtained capital grants for major items of equipment, and each year it provides a sterling grant, which enables us to order and pay for chemicals and spare parts to be sent direct to G h a n a . We also raid our own stores for the odd gram of urgently needed chemical and send it out by air mail; and when we go out on a lecturing visit, we often need to claim an excess baggage allowance from the IUC, in order to carry text books, chemicals and apparatus. On the return journey, one may well be carrying samples of cocoa pod for electron microscopy and various unidentified metabolites of antimalarial drugs for infra red and mass spectrographic analysis. In 1974, consultations were held on the extension of the link and it was agreed to increase our involvement by the appointment of an IUC-sponsored home based lecturer, who would spend four years in Legon and a fifth year in Leeds. This post was accepted by Dr. M. Chaplin, a specialist in glycoprotein structure and immunoassay systems. Most of his work had been performed in Birmingham, but he also had African experience from teaching at Bunda College in Malawi. Dr. Chaplin went out to Legon in October 1975, after spending a few weeks in the Leeds department. I visited Legon once again in 1971, 1975 and 1976, and each time I had the pleasure of seeing a stronger department. Professor Happold worked for the separation of Biochemistry from Food Science and Nutrition, and in 1971 the independence of the department was ensured when Dr. G. S. Asante, formerly at the University in Kumasi, was appointed to the Legon chair of Biochemistry. The department now has its own buildings, with a total floor area of 792 sq. metres, accommodating two lecture rooms, a teaching laboratory (212 sq. metres including prep room, stores and instrument room), staff offices and laboratories, instrument rooms and a library. This accommodation is already inadequate, because Biochemistry has become the most buoyant department in the life sciences. So many students want to study the subject in their second and final years, that the department is able to d e m a n d a higher than average examination performance for entry. The four year course has been abolished, and B.Sc. Biochemistry now requires three years of study, based on a unit course system. There are no first year courses in Biochemistry, and the preferred first year subjects are Chemistry, Biology and Physics - - with Mathematics. Year I1 consists of Biochemistry plus a second subject, which may be Chemistry, Botany, Zoology, or Nutrition and Food Science. The Biochemistry component of year II consists of five courses: Intermediary metabolism; Protein chemistry and enzymology; Physical biochemistry; Practical biochemistry; Chemical microbiology. Year III may be entirely Biochemistry, or rather less biochemistry plus one of the subjects already listed above
80
BIOCHEMICAL EDUCATION
October 1977 Vol. 5 No. 4
for year II. in all year llI schemes, the first six courses in the following list are obligatory. Courses with an asterisk are not always taught, depending on the availability of staff. 1. Protein structure and mechanism of enzyme action; 2. Nucleic acids, protein biosynthesis and biochemical genetics; 3. Integration and control of Metabolism; 4. Biological Oxidation and Bioenergetics; 5. Practical Biochemistry I; 6. Tutorials; 7. Practical Biochemistry II; 8. Project~- 9. Industrial Microbiology; 10. Biomembranes; 11. Plant Biochemistry; 12; Clinical Biochemistry; 13; Biochemistry of Hormones; 14. I m m u n o chemistry'; 15. Viruses*; 16. Biochemistry of Parasites~; 17. Insect Biochemistry~: A student taking a 3.2.1 combination, who does not take Chemistry in year If, must take a special course in Organic Chemistry in year III. In 1976-7, biochemistry was taught to 34 year lI and 19 year III B.Sc. special students, 72 agricultural students, and 6 M.Sc. students. In addition, 72 medical students were on course at Korle Bu. As for equipment, it is now possible to do spectroscopy with 2 Spectronic 20's, a Unicam SP 8000 and a series 2 SP 500 with chart recorder. Two of the centrifuges (MSE High Speed 18; Spinco model L) are unfortunately out of action, but the MSE Superspeed 50 is in continual use. Fraction collectors, ice machines, autoclaves and much of the usual paraphernalia of the biochemistry laboratory are now in evidence. There is, however, a crying need for a cold room. A most recent valuable development is the well-kept, interbred rat colony, which was created mainly by the efforts of Mr. J. Ashong. Disc electrophoresis is everywhere, and it is high time that Dr. Larway published his ingenious method for destaining gets, an outstanding example of what you can do with a limited budget when necessity becomes the mother of invention. At the moment, the department has nine academic staff based at Legon, two at Korle Bu and a total of eleven technical staff. Prof. Asante and Dr. Chaplin are studying black pod disease, which is caused by infection of cocoa pods by Phytophthora palmivora. Dr. Larway is concerned with the metabolism of antimalarial drugs, particularly with reference to their mode of action on red cell metabolism and m e m b r a n e structure. It is to be hoped that the scope of this work will be extended by Mr. Ashong's efforts to culture the malaria parasite in the laboratory. Dr. Gyang is interested in the action of peptidases, and he visited Leeds for 6 months in 1973 to work with Dr. A. J. Kenny on peptidases of the kidney tubule. The cocoa swollen shoot virus was under investigation by Mr. Oduro, but he has now returned to Edinburgh to finish his interrupted Ph.D. work. Professor Asante and Drs. Anato-Dumelo and Asante-Poku form a group for the investigation of possible interactions between steroid contraceptives and antimalarial drugs. This research program was started because some Ghanaian women are now taking regularly antimalarials and the pill, and will presumably continue to do so for twenty or more years of their lives. Dr. N. Woolhouse, a senior scientist with considerable experience in the biochemistry and pharmacology of schistosomicides, has recently joined the University and is making a spirited contribution to the teaching of medical students and developing his research on bilharzia. Professor Andoh is studying the chemistry and metabolism of dapsone which is an antileprotic drug. Some of its derivatives have been found to be effective against malaria in sickle cell anaemia patients who cannot be treated with primaquine because of its haemolytic effect. Dr. Andoh is also interested in analysing local foodstuffs.
Clearly, these research topics conform to the conventional wisdom that research in a developing country should be applied to local problems. One can only respect and admire the initiative shown by Legon in starting these projects. We look forward to a development of mutual research interests in the two Departments. Over the last nine years, however, our greatest contribution has probably been in teaching. The educational objectives of the two departments are the same, that is to teach biochemistry to science and medical students in an atmosphere of research. The students seem to appreciate that someone has flown three thousand miles to lecture to them, and their keenness and enthusiasm make them a pleasure to teach. As at home, one uses a system of lectures, tutorials, essay writing and problem solving, but with some differences. For instance, there is a shortage of up to date journals and text books, so that recommended reading lists can never be comprehensive, and in the absence of the appropriate references, lectures must be designed to give a complete and detailed set of notes. Practical teaching, like the research, must be designed around the apparatus available, and if this is anything that plugs in and switches on, it may break down at any time. The staff are able to perform running repairs, but every so often a major fault occurs and a spectrophotometer or a centrifuge may be out of action for many weeks. Perhaps this proves the contention that difficulties are good for us, for Legon produces a student biochemist of high calibre, who is qualified to e m b a r k upon a three year Ph.D. course. Problems? Well, the n u m b e r of staff has increased because the rate of recruitment is greater than the rate of loss. It is to be expected that young biochemists will occasionally want to move to different University departments or research institutes, in order to widen their experience; but the rate of turnover at Legon has been higher than one would wish, as a result of low salaries and difficult research conditions. Thus, although the department has made great strides since 1968, its members must still show dedication and self-sacrifice before they see the eventual establishment of standards of equipment and technical expertise, together with the necessary administrative support which are comparable to those of the European or North American Departments where many of them did their postgraduate work. The link has now been in operation for a decade to the mutual advantage of participating departments on both sides. In the early days of the scheme, Professor Campbell (now Chairman of the IUB Education Committee) expressed a view which has since proved so thoroughly sound that it can be recommended as a policy basis for international cooperation between Universities: "Polite meetings and discussions between vice-chancellors and administrators are all very well, but nothing of real value happens until you get the academic staff from each University working together at departmental level".
Catalogue of substrates for the assay or localisation of some hydrolytic enzymes
projects for final-year students. It starts with a list of 26 derivatives of 4-Methylumbelliferone which are available for fluorimetric methods together with about 90 literature references (including titles). This is followed by 54 derivatives of various naphthols for use in fluorimetric, histochemical or spectrophotometric methods (66 references); then 37 derivatives of phenol or nitrophenols (83 references) and finally by a miscellaneous list of 64 substrates suitable for assay of proteolytic enzymes, cholinesterases, etc. (83 references).
P p . 22. 1977. P u b l i s h e d by K o c h - L i g h t L a b o r a t o r i e s , L t d . , C o l n h r o o k , B u c k s . , SL3 0 B Z , E n g l a n d , f r o m w h o m it m a y be obtained without charge This trade catalogue would be useful and informative to people working on hydrolytic enzymes or devising suitable research
REFERENCES 1 Biochemistry in a Developing Country. K. L. Manchester. Biochem. Education 2, 1974, 63. 2 Biochemistry in a Developing Country. If Kenya. Mark Carroll. Biochem. Education, 5, 1977, 27. 3 LOSP = Lack of spare parts. Guardian, Tuesday January 13, 1976. 4 W A W A = West African Wins Again. National Geographic, August 1966, 130, No. 2, page 153.
BIOCHEMISTRY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF GHANA
The teaching of biochemistry in developing countries is often beset by difficulties arising from an insufficient n u m b e r of indigenous and well-trained staff, lack of sophisticated equipment, restricted libraries, a feeling of isolation a n d so on. One way of helping is for biochemists from older departments in other countries to join the p e r m a n e n t staff in the developing countries. Articles have been published 1,2 in Biochemical Education by two people who have done this - - Professor Manchester who went to the University of the West Indies and Dr. Mark Carroll at the University of Nairobi. Another way of helping is to establish a link between biochemistry departments in different countries which can lead to a rather flexible and two-way exchange of ideas and personnel. As an illustration of this method, an account follows of a link between the departments of biochemistry in the University of G h a n a at Legon which is near Accra in south G h a n a and that in the University of Leeds in northern England. The link between the departments of Biochemistry has existed since 1967, when Professor Happold, on his retirement from the Leeds chair, went to G h a n a to advise on the reorganisation of the biochemistry section of the Legon department of Biochemistry, Nutrition and Food Science. Nutrition and especially Food Science were well endowed with staff and apparatus, through the generosity of the Canadian government and the University of Guelph, but Biochemistry was understaffed and ill-equipped. In addition to teaching science students, the biochemists were also responsible for lecturing to the preclinical medical students at Legon, and for organizing their practical course at the medical school at Korle Bu 12 miles away. The large work load of the small and inexperienced staff of biochemists presented an urgent problem. As an immediate answer to the manpower problem, Professor Happold invited members of his old department to teach in Legon for periods up to six weeks in the first and second terms. Leave of absence was granted and the University of G h a n a provided return tickets on G h a n a Airways. Visiting lecturers were accommodated in the University Guest Flats (built with funds from the Ford Foundation) at Legon. The first visitor was Dr. Kilby in January 1968, followed by myself in October of the same year. On arrival, I was introduced to 22 third year students and three biochemistry finalists. Between us, we worked out a timetable that would make optimal use of my time during the next five weeks. For the practical work we h a d a n u m b e r of Eel colorimeters and lowspeed bench centrifuges. There was a decaying preparative ultracentrifuge that did not work, and an equally moribund Beckmann UV spectrophotometer was languishing in a corner of the Food Science section. Radiocounting depended upon two lead castles with very old, malfunctioning scalers. All apparatus seemed to suffer from the indigenous West African disease of LOSP 3. A shortage of sterling and dollars restricted the quantity of chemicals and apparatus that could be bought. Direct orders to Europe were sometimes ignored, because firms doubted the ability of the G h a n a i a n s to pay promptly in hard currency, and orders placed through an agency in Accra took between six months and a year to arrive. If a small item were needed, an expatriate might accompany the order with a personal cheque against his U.K. bank account. Using materials that I had brought from Leeds, the finalist students started to purify ornithine transcarbamylase from rat liver. They had just reached the point of converting ornithine and C-14 labelled carbamylphosphate into citrulline, when, as a result of student demonstrations, the University was closed. This was my first, but by no m e a n s last encounter with W A W A 4. All students were forbidden access to the c a m p u s and I lost my third year class completely. They returned to their home villages, sometimes as far
October 1977 Vol. 5 No. 4
79
T. A. SCOTT D e p a r t m e n t of B i o c h e m i s t r y T h e U n i v e r s i t y of L e e d s England
as four h u n d r e d miles away in the Upper Region of G h a n a . However, my three finalists found accommodation with friends or relatives in Accra and some "illegal" tutorial classes were arranged in my flat and some practical work in the hospital laboratories. Realizing, however, that the connection would lapse after Professor Happold finished his advisory three years, our new head of department, Professor P. N. Campbell, asked the Interuniversities Council (IUC) in London early in 1969 to consider taking financial responsibility for our efforts in Legon. Thus, the "Leeds-Ghana Link" became the formal title of an IUC-sponsored scheme. Since the link came into operation in 1969, twelve staff have visited Legon (including brief visits by Prof. Campbell in 1971 and 1974 to review the link); five Legon staff have visited Leeds for periods varying from a few weeks to 6 months; three Ghanaian technicians have been to us for training; and Legon's first Ph.D. biochemistry student spent one year of his research in our laboratories. The 1UC has also obtained capital grants for major items of equipment, and each year it provides a sterling grant, which enables us to order and pay for chemicals and spare parts to be sent direct to G h a n a . We also raid our own stores for the odd gram of urgently needed chemical and send it out by air mail; and when we go out on a lecturing visit, we often need to claim an excess baggage allowance from the IUC, in order to carry text books, chemicals and apparatus. On the return journey, one may well be carrying samples of cocoa pod for electron microscopy and various unidentified metabolites of antimalarial drugs for infra red and mass spectrographic analysis. In 1974, consultations were held on the extension of the link and it was agreed to increase our involvement by the appointment of an IUC-sponsored home based lecturer, who would spend four years in Legon and a fifth year in Leeds. This post was accepted by Dr. M. Chaplin, a specialist in glycoprotein structure and immunoassay systems. Most of his work had been performed in Birmingham, but he also had African experience from teaching at Bunda College in Malawi. Dr. Chaplin went out to Legon in October 1975, after spending a few weeks in the Leeds department. I visited Legon once again in 1971, 1975 and 1976, and each time I had the pleasure of seeing a stronger department. Professor Happold worked for the separation of Biochemistry from Food Science and Nutrition, and in 1971 the independence of the department was ensured when Dr. G. S. Asante, formerly at the University in Kumasi, was appointed to the Legon chair of Biochemistry. The department now has its own buildings, with a total floor area of 792 sq. metres, accommodating two lecture rooms, a teaching laboratory (212 sq. metres including prep room, stores and instrument room), staff offices and laboratories, instrument rooms and a library. This accommodation is already inadequate, because Biochemistry has become the most buoyant department in the life sciences. So many students want to study the subject in their second and final years, that the department is able to d e m a n d a higher than average examination performance for entry. The four year course has been abolished, and B.Sc. Biochemistry now requires three years of study, based on a unit course system. There are no first year courses in Biochemistry, and the preferred first year subjects are Chemistry, Biology and Physics - - with Mathematics. Year I1 consists of Biochemistry plus a second subject, which may be Chemistry, Botany, Zoology, or Nutrition and Food Science. The Biochemistry component of year II consists of five courses: Intermediary metabolism; Protein chemistry and enzymology; Physical biochemistry; Practical biochemistry; Chemical microbiology. Year III may be entirely Biochemistry, or rather less biochemistry plus one of the subjects already listed above
80
BIOCHEMICAL EDUCATION
October 1977 Vol. 5 No. 4
for year II. in all year llI schemes, the first six courses in the following list are obligatory. Courses with an asterisk are not always taught, depending on the availability of staff. 1. Protein structure and mechanism of enzyme action; 2. Nucleic acids, protein biosynthesis and biochemical genetics; 3. Integration and control of Metabolism; 4. Biological Oxidation and Bioenergetics; 5. Practical Biochemistry I; 6. Tutorials; 7. Practical Biochemistry II; 8. Project~- 9. Industrial Microbiology; 10. Biomembranes; 11. Plant Biochemistry; 12; Clinical Biochemistry; 13; Biochemistry of Hormones; 14. I m m u n o chemistry'; 15. Viruses*; 16. Biochemistry of Parasites~; 17. Insect Biochemistry~: A student taking a 3.2.1 combination, who does not take Chemistry in year If, must take a special course in Organic Chemistry in year III. In 1976-7, biochemistry was taught to 34 year lI and 19 year III B.Sc. special students, 72 agricultural students, and 6 M.Sc. students. In addition, 72 medical students were on course at Korle Bu. As for equipment, it is now possible to do spectroscopy with 2 Spectronic 20's, a Unicam SP 8000 and a series 2 SP 500 with chart recorder. Two of the centrifuges (MSE High Speed 18; Spinco model L) are unfortunately out of action, but the MSE Superspeed 50 is in continual use. Fraction collectors, ice machines, autoclaves and much of the usual paraphernalia of the biochemistry laboratory are now in evidence. There is, however, a crying need for a cold room. A most recent valuable development is the well-kept, interbred rat colony, which was created mainly by the efforts of Mr. J. Ashong. Disc electrophoresis is everywhere, and it is high time that Dr. Larway published his ingenious method for destaining gets, an outstanding example of what you can do with a limited budget when necessity becomes the mother of invention. At the moment, the department has nine academic staff based at Legon, two at Korle Bu and a total of eleven technical staff. Prof. Asante and Dr. Chaplin are studying black pod disease, which is caused by infection of cocoa pods by Phytophthora palmivora. Dr. Larway is concerned with the metabolism of antimalarial drugs, particularly with reference to their mode of action on red cell metabolism and m e m b r a n e structure. It is to be hoped that the scope of this work will be extended by Mr. Ashong's efforts to culture the malaria parasite in the laboratory. Dr. Gyang is interested in the action of peptidases, and he visited Leeds for 6 months in 1973 to work with Dr. A. J. Kenny on peptidases of the kidney tubule. The cocoa swollen shoot virus was under investigation by Mr. Oduro, but he has now returned to Edinburgh to finish his interrupted Ph.D. work. Professor Asante and Drs. Anato-Dumelo and Asante-Poku form a group for the investigation of possible interactions between steroid contraceptives and antimalarial drugs. This research program was started because some Ghanaian women are now taking regularly antimalarials and the pill, and will presumably continue to do so for twenty or more years of their lives. Dr. N. Woolhouse, a senior scientist with considerable experience in the biochemistry and pharmacology of schistosomicides, has recently joined the University and is making a spirited contribution to the teaching of medical students and developing his research on bilharzia. Professor Andoh is studying the chemistry and metabolism of dapsone which is an antileprotic drug. Some of its derivatives have been found to be effective against malaria in sickle cell anaemia patients who cannot be treated with primaquine because of its haemolytic effect. Dr. Andoh is also interested in analysing local foodstuffs.
Clearly, these research topics conform to the conventional wisdom that research in a developing country should be applied to local problems. One can only respect and admire the initiative shown by Legon in starting these projects. We look forward to a development of mutual research interests in the two Departments. Over the last nine years, however, our greatest contribution has probably been in teaching. The educational objectives of the two departments are the same, that is to teach biochemistry to science and medical students in an atmosphere of research. The students seem to appreciate that someone has flown three thousand miles to lecture to them, and their keenness and enthusiasm make them a pleasure to teach. As at home, one uses a system of lectures, tutorials, essay writing and problem solving, but with some differences. For instance, there is a shortage of up to date journals and text books, so that recommended reading lists can never be comprehensive, and in the absence of the appropriate references, lectures must be designed to give a complete and detailed set of notes. Practical teaching, like the research, must be designed around the apparatus available, and if this is anything that plugs in and switches on, it may break down at any time. The staff are able to perform running repairs, but every so often a major fault occurs and a spectrophotometer or a centrifuge may be out of action for many weeks. Perhaps this proves the contention that difficulties are good for us, for Legon produces a student biochemist of high calibre, who is qualified to e m b a r k upon a three year Ph.D. course. Problems? Well, the n u m b e r of staff has increased because the rate of recruitment is greater than the rate of loss. It is to be expected that young biochemists will occasionally want to move to different University departments or research institutes, in order to widen their experience; but the rate of turnover at Legon has been higher than one would wish, as a result of low salaries and difficult research conditions. Thus, although the department has made great strides since 1968, its members must still show dedication and self-sacrifice before they see the eventual establishment of standards of equipment and technical expertise, together with the necessary administrative support which are comparable to those of the European or North American Departments where many of them did their postgraduate work. The link has now been in operation for a decade to the mutual advantage of participating departments on both sides. In the early days of the scheme, Professor Campbell (now Chairman of the IUB Education Committee) expressed a view which has since proved so thoroughly sound that it can be recommended as a policy basis for international cooperation between Universities: "Polite meetings and discussions between vice-chancellors and administrators are all very well, but nothing of real value happens until you get the academic staff from each University working together at departmental level".
Catalogue of substrates for the assay or localisation of some hydrolytic enzymes
projects for final-year students. It starts with a list of 26 derivatives of 4-Methylumbelliferone which are available for fluorimetric methods together with about 90 literature references (including titles). This is followed by 54 derivatives of various naphthols for use in fluorimetric, histochemical or spectrophotometric methods (66 references); then 37 derivatives of phenol or nitrophenols (83 references) and finally by a miscellaneous list of 64 substrates suitable for assay of proteolytic enzymes, cholinesterases, etc. (83 references).
P p . 22. 1977. P u b l i s h e d by K o c h - L i g h t L a b o r a t o r i e s , L t d . , C o l n h r o o k , B u c k s . , SL3 0 B Z , E n g l a n d , f r o m w h o m it m a y be obtained without charge This trade catalogue would be useful and informative to people working on hydrolytic enzymes or devising suitable research
REFERENCES 1 Biochemistry in a Developing Country. K. L. Manchester. Biochem. Education 2, 1974, 63. 2 Biochemistry in a Developing Country. If Kenya. Mark Carroll. Biochem. Education, 5, 1977, 27. 3 LOSP = Lack of spare parts. Guardian, Tuesday January 13, 1976. 4 W A W A = West African Wins Again. National Geographic, August 1966, 130, No. 2, page 153.