Eminent bio-scientist, Dr P M Barghava passes away

New Delhi: Dr Pushpa Mithra Bhargava, the Founding Director of the Hyderabad based leading research institute, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) and widely regarded as the architect of modern biology in India, has passed away after a prolonged illness. He breathed his last on the afternoon of August 01, 2017.

Late Dr Bhargava who was 89 years old, has been known for his pioneering vision that led to the foundation of CCMB in 1977. He has been an architect of India’s early strides into the modern biology. Many of the top scientists today have been initially mentored by him.

Born in Ajaymeru in Rajasthan on 22 February 1928, Dr Bhargava came from a middle-class family. When he was 10 years old, his family shifted to Varanasi. He was formally admitted to Besant Theosophical School in Varanasi for the first time at the age of ten, directly into class nine. 

After school, he completed intermediate from Queen’s College, one of the best institutions in UP at that time. He received his B.Sc. in 1944 with Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, and then obtained an M.Sc. degree in 1946 in Organic Chemistry and Ph.D. in Synthetic Organic Chemistry from Lucknow University.

Eminent agricultural scientist, Dr M S Swaminathan had once hailed honored him as someone who has always strived to add ‘life to years’ rather than ‘years to life’.

The prominent stakeholders of bioscience sector have widely condoled the death of Dr Bhargava. The editorial team of BioVoice News conveys its deep condolences to the family of Dr Bhargava.