"While we Indians have immense pride in our cultural heritage and scientific innovation, it is hard to find the evidence on ground. Most innovative ideas, which are either created by a well-funded research institution or by a poor layman, lie underutilized by an apathetic society. This is clearly evident in the immense rejoice the nation felt about Sachin Tendulkar being felicitated with the Bharat Ratna award, while people asking “who is this scientist C N R Rao who is also getting Bharat Ratna?”"
The first in this series is quite interesting to me, mainly because of his contribution to production of folic acid which by supplementing the diets of Pregnant woman can prevent the formation of neural tube defects which as a pediatric surgeon I used to surgically repair while I was at Niloufer Institute Hyderabad.
It is really a sorry state that when a scientist of this country was a pioneer in the production of this vitamin we now after so many years are still not able to provide this to the needy pregnant woman.
In spite of surgical repair the prognosis of these children is pretty poor
Unsung heroes of Indian science
యెల్లాప్రగడ సుబ్బారావు
Have you heard about India’s earliest known biochemist who discovered the function of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and the first cancer chemotherapy agent in the 1940s? Today, if the world doesn’t remember much about Yellapragada Subbarao, it could be due to his failure to promote his own interests. Born in Bhimavaram, Andhra Pradesh in 1895, Subbarao joined the Madras Medical College for medical studies after his intermediate education. Although he fared well in his written examinations, he was denied his MBBS degree, since he displeased his professor by wearing khadi surgical dress!
Yellapragada SubbaRow, Wizard of Wonder Drugs: A life dedicated to the conquest of disease, he discovered three medical molecules which continue the war he waged fifty years after his death.
Later in his career, due to a chance meeting with an American doctor, Subbarao went to the U.S. to for doctorate studies at the Harvard School of Tropical Medicine. While studying there, Subbarao developed a method to estimate phosphorus in human body fluids and tissues, along with Cyrus Fiske. This led to the discovery of the role played by phosphocreatine and ATP as the energy source in the living cell. This discovery ensured that Subbarao’s name was listed in the biochemistry textbooks in 1930s.
At Peter Bent Brigham Hospital (1965): A fully qualified medical doctor, SubbaRow was its most distinguished night porter, a menial job of washing patients bedpans and urinals that provided a monthly stipend
Since he was denied a regular faculty position at Harvard, joined Lederle Laboratories. There, he developed a method to synthesize folic acid, Vitamin B9, and the important anti-cancer drug methotrexate – the first cancer chemotherapy agent, which is still in clinical use!
A patent attorney was astonished to find that Subbarao had not taken any of the routine steps that are used by scientists to link their name to their inventions. His colleague, Nobel laureate in Medicine, George Hitchings said, “Some of the nucleotides isolated by Subbarao had to be rediscovered years later by other workers because Fiske, apparently out of jealousy, did not let Subbarao’s contributions see the light of the day!”
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