Prof. G. Padmanaban

Born in 1938, Professor G. Padmanaban is the first student of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore to have become its Director. He contributed significantly to the initiation of recombinant DNA research in the country. He initiated studies on liver cytochrome-P450 gene expression, which plays a crucial role in drug metabolism. The molecule HEME has been at the centre of his quest to understand its multifarious roles. He has been working with the malaria parasite biology for over last three decades. His group discovered and characterized the heme-biosynthetic pathway and established its role in parasite development during the transmission stages and parasite virulence in its asexual stage of development.  The pathway is a drug target against severe malaria. He has also shown that curcumin from turmeric has tremendous potential to treat malaria as an adjunct drug. His studies have paved the way to explain the molecular basis for the action of curcumin from Turmeric as a universal adjunct drug. He has produced over 50 Ph.Ds and published over 180 papers. His letter in SCIENCE (1998) explaining the background behind India’s Pokhran Nuclear Test was widely appreciated. He had projected India to become a global leader in vaccines (Indian-born weapons against infectious diseases, Nature, 2003).  He has written his Memoirs in Two monographs on his experiences in Doing Science in India, 2008 and 2018. Professor Padmanaban was a Visiting Scientist/Professor at the University of Chicago for over a decade 1973-1986. He served international organizations such as the WHO and ICGEB as an expert member. His Profile was covered in Nature Medicine (2003). He widely travelled and played an integral part in the growth of Life Sciences and Biotechnology in the country.  He continues to be active in research after his formal retirement in 1998.  He has mentored a generation of students, junior and senior scientists and entrepreneurs. He was elected the President of the National Academy of Sciences, India (NASI) in 2019. He has been the Chancellor of the Central University of Tamil Nadu, since 2018 and was awarded the UNESCO Chair in Biotechnology in 2000. He was Co-Chair of the COVID vaccine evaluation committee of DBT. He has received several awards including the civilian awards, Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan He has been Chairing the SAC of YBL, almost from its inception