Ananda Mohan Chakrabarty

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Ananda Mohan Chakrabarty
British India
Died10 July 2020(2020-07-10) (aged 82)[1]
Chicago, Illinois, United States[2]
NationalityIndian
Alma materUniversity of Calcutta
Known forGenetically engineering a Pseudomonas bacterium
Scientific career
FieldsMicrobiology

Ananda Mohan Chakrabarty (

GE, the patent for which[3] led to landmark Supreme Court case, Diamond v. Chakrabarty
.

Early life

Ananda (generally called "Al" by scientific colleagues) Chakrabarty was born in

PhD. from the University of Calcutta in Kolkata, West Bengal
in 1965.

Scientific work

Prof. Chakrabarty genetically engineered

Schenectady, New York.[10]

At the time, four known species of oil-metabolizing bacteria were known to exist, but when introduced into an

UV light after plasmid transfer, Prof. Chakrabarty discovered a method for genetic cross-linking that fixed all four plasmid genes in place and produced a new, stable, bacterial species (now called Pseudomonas putida
) capable of consuming oil one or two orders of magnitude faster than the previous four strains of oil-eating microbes. The new microbe, which Chakrabarty called "multiplasmid hydrocarbon-degrading Pseudomonas," could digest about two-thirds of the hydrocarbons that would be found in a typical oil spill.

The bacteria drew international attention when he applied for a patent—the first U.S. patent for a genetically modified organism. (U.S. utility patents had been granted to living organisms before, including two pure bacterial cultures, patented by Louis Pasteur. Chakrabarty's modified bacterium was granted a patent in the U.K. before the U.S. patent came through.) He was initially denied the patent by the Patent Office because the patent code was thought to preclude patents on living organisms. The United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals overturned the decision in Chakrabarty's favor, writing:

...the fact that micro-organisms are alive is without legal significance for purposes of patent law.

Supreme Court
. The Supreme Court case was argued on 17 March 1980 and decided on 16 June 1980. This patent was granted by the U.S. Supreme Court (Diamond v. Chakrabarty), in a 5–4 decision, when it determined:

A live, human-made micro-organism is patentable subject matter under [Title 35 U.S.C.] 101. Respondent's micro-organism constitutes a "manufacture" or "composition of matter" within that statute.

Prof. Chakrabarty's landmark research has since paved the way for many patents on

micro-organisms and other life forms, and catapulted him into the international spotlight.[11]

Last work

His lab worked on elucidating the role of bacterial

University of Illinois owns the rights to the patents, but has issued exclusive licences to CDG Therapeutics.[11]

In 2008, Prof. Chakrabarty co-founded a second biopharmaceutical discovery company, Amrita Therapeutics Ltd., registered in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, to develop therapies, vaccines, and diagnostics effective against cancers and/or other major public health threats derived from bacterial products found in the human body.[14] Amrita Therapeutics Ltd. received initial funding in late 2008 from Gujarat Venture Finance Limited,[15] and later received a grant for a two-year research program in 2010 from the Indian Department of Biotechnology under the Biotechnology Industry Promotion Program (BIPP).[16]

Academic career

Chakrabarty was a Distinguished University Professor in the Department of

NIH Study Sections, a member of the Board on Biology of the National Academy of Sciences
, and the Committee on Biotechnology of the
National Research Council
.

He has also served the

Montana State University Center for Biofilm Engineering, the Center for Microbial Ecology at the Michigan State University, and the Canadian Bacterial Diseases Network based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Dr. Chakrabarty has also served as a member of the NATO Industrial Advisory Group based in Brussels
, Belgium. He was a member of the board of directors of Einstein Institute for Science, Health and the Courts, where he participated in judicial education.

For his work in genetic engineering technology, he was awarded the civilian Padma Shri by the government of India in 2007.[17]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ananda Mohan Chakrabarty (biologist).
  1. S2CID 229300870
    .
  2. ^ "Remembering Ananda Mohan Chakrabarty". The School of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. 2 September 2020. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  3. ^ US Patent 4,259,444
  4. PMID 1103151
    .
  5. PMID 4530312
    .
  6. PMID 4829926
    .
  7. PMID 4823075. {{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help
    )
  8. PMID 4745436
    .
  9. PMID 4351810
    .
  10. ^ "Environment: Oil-Eating Bug". Time. 22 September 1975. Archived from the original on 21 April 2008. Retrieved 28 September 2009.
  11. ^ a b c d "Innovation gives you confidence and a respectable position across the globe". The Financial Express. 11 December 2006. Retrieved 28 September 2009.
  12. ^ a b "Ananda Chakrabarty". 2006. Archived from the original on 5 October 2009. Retrieved 28 September 2009.
  13. ^ a b c Plas, Joe Vanden (9 September 2006). "Father of life patents downplays historic role". Wisconsin Technology Network 28 September 2009. Archived from the original on 8 February 2015. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
  14. ^ Amritatherapeutics.com
  15. ^ "Gujarat State Biotechnology Mission". Archived from the original on 3 August 2010.
  16. ^ "Biotechnology Industry Partnership Programme (BIPP)". Archived from the original on 3 August 2010.
  17. ^ "Padma Awards" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 October 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
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