Bimal Kumar Bachhawat
Bimal Kumar Bachhawat | |
|---|---|
| Born | 16 August 1925 Neurochemist Glycobiologist |
| Years active | 1949–1996 |
| Known for | Glycobiology Neurochemistry |
| Awards | Padma Bhushan Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize J. C. Bose Award R. D. Birla Smarak Kosh Award Outstanding Teacher Award INSA S. S. Bhatnagar Medal IISc Golden Jubilee Award FICCI Award Amrut Mody Research Foundation Award |
Bimal Kumar Bachhawat (1925–1996;
Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award, the highest Indian honor in science and technology[4] and an elected fellow of three major Indian science academies. The Government of India awarded him the third highest civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan, in 1990, for his contributions to science.[5]
Biography
Dr. Bachhawat has contributed to the knowledge on the metabolism of
Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize.[6]
Bimal Kumar Bachhawat was born on 26 August 1925 as one among five brothers and three sisters in Kolkata, in the
University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign under the guidance of Carl Swensson Vestling and obtained his doctoral degree (PhD) in 1953.[8] Subsequently, he worked with Minor J. Coon, first at University of Pennsylvania and then at the University of Michigan, working on the formation of ketone bodies in mammals.[8]
Bachhawat return to India in 1957 to join
University of Delhi and superannuated from service in 1990 as the Dean of the Faculty of Interdisciplinary and Applied Sciences.[1] After retirement from academic career, he served as the president of the Society of Biological Chemists for a second time (he had served the Society as its president in 1970 for a two year-term) and remained as the president till 1994 during which time the society organized the 1994 congress of the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (IUBMB).[3] He was associated with the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) as the chairman of its technical advisory board on biological studies[7] and was a council member (1975–77) and vice president (1987–88) of the Indian National Science Academy.[1]
Bachhawat was married to Kamala and the couple had two daughters, Kalpana and Kiran, and a son, Anand.[7] He died on 23 September 1996, at the age of 71, survived by his wife and children.[7]
Legacy
Bachhawat's principal contributions are spread in three areas; institution building, researches in neurochemistry and glycobiology, and academics. At
University of Delhi, he established the Department of Biochemistry.[3]
The first of Bachhawat's major research findings came when he was working with
prenatal diagnosis. His proposals on the biosynthesis and degradation of cerebroside-3-sulfate, a lipid found in high concentrations in patients afflicted with metachromatic leukodystrophy were known to have helped in the latter-day therapeutic protocols.[3]
Bachhawat and his colleagues were credited with the discovery of CMP-N-acetylneuraminic acid which led to the understanding of the occurrence of
liposomes.[7] He also worked on the therapy of systemic fungal infections by developing liposomal formulations.[8]
On the academic front, he contributed in developing the departments he helped establish at CMC Vellore and Delhi University into centes of excellence in research.[2] His researches have been documented by way of over 150 scientific papers published in refereed journals and he has also edited a number of books.[1] He served as a member of the editorial board of Indian Journal of Biochemistry and Biophysics and he mentored 42 research scholars for master's and doctoral studies.[1] Apart from the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology congress of 1994, he was a part of the organizing committee of many other international conferences held in India.[3]
Selected articles
- Austin J. H.; Balasubramanian A. S.; Partabiraman T. N.; Saraswati. S.; Basu D. K. & Bachhawat (1963). "Controlled study of enzyme activities in three human disorders of glycolipid metabolism (gangoylism and metachromatic and globoid leukodystrophy)". J. Neurochem. 10 (11): 805–816. S2CID 38161295.
- Singh M. & Bachhawat B.K. (1965). "Distribution and variation with age of different uronic acid-containing mucopolysaccharide in brain". Neurochem. 12 (6): 529–535. S2CID 36772874.
- Balasubramanian A. S.; Bachhawat. B. K. (1965). "Formation of cerebroside sulfate from 3'-phosphoadenosine-5'phosphosulfate in sheep brain". Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 106 (1): 218–220. PMID 4954549.
- Bimal K Bachhawat; James Austin; Donald Armstrong (1967). "A Cerebroside Sulphotransferase Deficiency in a Human Disorder of Myelin". Biochem. J. 104 (4): 15C–17C. PMID 4860468.
- Chandrasekaran E.V.; Bachhawat B. K. (November 1969). "Isolation and characterization of glycosaminoglycans in peripheral nerve and spinal cord of monkey". J. Neurochem. 16 (11): 1529–1532. S2CID 13984950.
- Shoyab, Bachhawat B. K. (1967). "Enzymic degradation of cytidine 5'-monophosphate-N-acetylneuraminic acid". Biochem. J. 102 (2): 13C1–4C. PMID 6029591.
- Singh M.; Bachhawal B. K. (1968). "Isolation and characterization of glycosaminoglycans in human brain of different groups". J. Neurochem. 15 (3): 249–258. S2CID 9364246.
- Balasubramanian A. S.; Bachhawat B. K. (1970). "Sulfate metabolism in brain". Brain Res. 20 (3): 341–360. PMID 4247104.
- Balasubramanian A. S.; Bachhawat B. K. (June 1970). "Sulfate metabolism in brain". Brain Res. 20 (3): 341–360. PMID 4247104.
- Farooqui, Bachhawat B. K. (1973). "Enzymic desulfation of cerebroside-3'-sulfate by chicken brain arylsulfatase". J. Neurochem. 20 (3): 889–891. S2CID 17202139.
- Surolia, Bachhawat B. K.; Podder S. K. (1975). "Interaction between lectin from Ricinus communis and liposome containing gangliosides". Nature. 257 (5529): 802–804. S2CID 4245681.
- Mumtaz, Ghosh C.; Bachhawat B. K. (1991). "Design of liposomes for circumventing the reticuloendothelial cells". Glycobiology. 1 (5): 505–10. PMID 1726577.
- Bachhawat B. K.; Robinson W. M. G.; Coon, M. J. (1955). "The enzymatic cleavage of beta-hydroxy-beta-methylglutaryl coenzyme A to acetoacetate and acetyl coenzyme A." The Journal of Biological Chemistry. 216 (2): 727–36. PMID 13271348.
Awards and honors
Bimal Kumar Bachhawat received the
Republic Day Honours list for the civilian award of the Padma Bhushan in 1990.[2] A recipient of the Outstanding Teacher Award, Bachhawat also delivered several award orations; J. C. Bose Memorial Award (1980) and B. C. Guha Award (1984) of the Indian Science Congress Association, R. N. Chopra Lectureship (1977), Prof, J. B. Chatterji Memorial Oration and Gold Medal of Calcutta School of Tropical Medicine and Distinguished Scientist Lecture of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (1989) are some of the notable ones among them.[11]
Bachhawat was elected as a fellow by the Indian National Science Academy in 1973,phytochemicals published by Nova Science Publishers in honor of Bachhawat in 2011.[15]
Trivia
- Bachhawat was known to have been fascinated by the Louis Pasteur saying, In the field of experimentation, chance favors only the prepared mind.[3]
- Human Genomics and the ethical and socio-economic issues related to it were topics of interest to him.[8]
- The brain storming sessions he organized during his tenancy as the chairman of the CSIR Technical Advisory Board later developed into a full-fledged movement, the Molecular Immunology Forum, which meets every year.[7]
See also
- Minor J. Coon
- Gaucher's disease
- Tay–Sachs disease
- CMP-N-acetylneuraminic acid
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Deceased Fellow". Indian National Science Academy. 2016. Archived from the original on 15 August 2016. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
- ^ a b c d Debi P. Sarkar (2015). "Classics in Indian Medicine" (PDF). The National Medical Journal of India (28): 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 May 2016.
- ^ .
- ^ "Brief Profile of the Awardee". Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. 2016. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
- ^ "Padma Awards" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 October 2015. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
- ^ a b "SSB Prize - Biological Sciences". Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. 2016. Archived from the original on 16 July 2010. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Avadesha Surolia (December 1996). "Bimal Kumar Bachhawat - An Obituary" (PDF). Current Science. 71 (11).
- ^ .
- PMID 4247104.
- S2CID 13984950.
- ^ a b c "About the Awards" (PDF). Jaypee Institute of Information Technology. 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 June 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
- ^ "Fellow Profile". Indian Academy of Sciences. 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
- ^ "NASI Fellow". National Academy of Sciences, India. 2016. Archived from the original on 28 May 2015. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
- ^ "India set to launch new drug". Indian Express. 21 February 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
- .
External links
- Indian National Science Academy (2000). Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy.
- Science & Culture. Indian Science News Association. 1996.
- Medal Lectures, 1950-1983: A Collection of Lectures Delivered by Eminent Men of Science who Have Been Recipients of Various Medals and Honours from the Academy. Indian National Science Academy. 1984.
Further reading
- Pakrashi, P. K. Bhattacharyya; Carl S. Vestling (1987). "Personal reflections". Journal of Biosciences. 11 (1): 1–6. S2CID 29591886.
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