Prof G Padmanabhan bestowed with Vigyan Ratna Award 2024

New Delhi:  Eminent bio-scientist, Prof. Govindarajan Padmanabhan has been bestowed with the Vigyan Ratna Award 2024 for lifetime achievement and contributions in the field of Science and Technology.

The President of India, Droupadi Murmu presented the award to him at a ceremony held in Rashtrapati Bhavan on August 22, 2024.

Prof. Padmanabhan is a pioneer in molecular biology and biotechnology research in India. Born 20 March 1938 in Chennai, he is an Indian biochemist and biotechnologist. He was the former director of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), and presently serves as honorary professor in the department of biochemistry at IISc and Chancellor of Central University of Tamil Nadu.

In the early years of his research, Prof. Padmanabhan primarily worked in the transcriptional regulation of Eukaryotic genes in the liver. He took up molecular biology in a big way in 1973 and he wanted to study eukaryotic systems (higher organisms) rather than bacteria. Molecular biology (DNA-RNA-protein) was mostly done with bacteria (E. coli) those days and eukaryotic systems were sidelined.

He was interested in elucidating the multifaceted role of heme in cellular processes. His group discovered the heme-biosynthetic pathway in the malarial parasite and showed it to be a drug target. He has also been interested in the area of vaccine development. His team was successful in showing the antimalarial property of Curcumin and its efficacy in combination therapy in 2004.

Prof. Padmanabhan has received many accolades for his scientific work. In 2007, he was awarded the Padma Shri for his extraordinary contributions to science and education. He has won many honours for his research, including India’s earlier top science award , the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, and the TWAS Prize from the World Academy of Sciences. He is a Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy (INSA), the National Academy of Sciences, India (NASI), and the World Academy of Sciences.