Dorairajan Balasubramanian, popularly known as Professor Balu, is an Indian biophysical chemist
and
ocular
Eyes are organs of the visual system. They provide living organisms with vision, the ability to receive and process visual detail, as well as enabling several photo response functions that are independent of vision. Eyes detect light and con ...
biochemist
Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. They study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. Biochemists study DNA, proteins and Cell (biology), cell parts. The word "biochemist" is a portmanteau of ...
.
He is a former President of
Indian Academy of Sciences and a director of research at the Prof. Brien Holden Eye Research Centre of
L. V. Prasad Eye Institute
The L V Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI) is an eye-care network, established by Dr. Gullapalli Nageswara Rao, an ophthalmologist, at Hyderabad, in 1987. It is a non-profit, multi-campus, non-governmental institution. With more than 200 eye-care c ...
, Hyderabad.
A recipient of the
National Order of Merit (France) An order of merit is conferred by a state, government or royal family on an individual in recognition of military or civil merit.
Order of merit may also refer to:
* FIFA Order of Merit, for significant contribution to association football
* PDC O ...
, Balasubramanian was honored by the
Government of India
The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...
, in 2002, with the fourth highest
Indian civilian award of
Padma Shri
Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...
Biography
Dorairajan Balasubramanian was born on 28 August 1939
in the South Indian state of
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...
.
He graduated in Chemistry (BSc) from
Madras University
The University of Madras (informally known as Madras University) is a public state university in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and among the most prestigious universities in India, incorporated by an a ...
in 1957 and secured his master's degree (MSc) in Chemistry with first rank
in 1959 from
BITS, Pilani.
He moved to the United States in 1960 for researching for his doctoral studies and completed it in 1965 to obtain PhD
in biophysical chemistry from
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
.
He continued in the United States for his post doctoral research as a
Jane Coffin Childs Fund Fellow at the
University of Minnesota Medical School till 1966.
Balasubramanian returned to India in 1966 and joined the
Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur as a lecturer where he rose in ranks over the years to become an assistant professor and a professor.
In 1977, he was appointed as the professor and dean of the School of Chemistry at the
University of Hyderabad where he worked till 1982
when he took up the post of the deputy director of the
Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology
The Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology ( hi, कोशिकीय एवं आण्विक जीवविज्ञान केंद्र, IAST: ''Kośikīya evam āṇavik jīvavijñāna kendra'') or CCMB is an Indian fundamen ...
.
He retired from the institution as its director
in 1998 and moved to
L. V. Prasad Eye Institute
The L V Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI) is an eye-care network, established by Dr. Gullapalli Nageswara Rao, an ophthalmologist, at Hyderabad, in 1987. It is a non-profit, multi-campus, non-governmental institution. With more than 200 eye-care c ...
where he is the director of research of Prof. Brien Holden Eye Research Centre.
He also serves as the visiting professor at the
University of New South Wales
The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensive ...
, Sydney and as the adjunct professor of
Birla Institute of Technology and Science
Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani (BITS Pilani) is a Deemed university in Pilani, Jhunjhunu, India. It focuses primarily on higher education and research in engineering and sciences. After expansion to a campus in Dubai, it has b ...
, Pilani, India.
Balasubramanian is married to Shakti who is associated with
E TV as a producer and the couple has two daughters.
The elder daughter, Katyayani is a research analyst and the younger one, Akhila works as a public health professional.
The family lives in Hyderabad.
Positions
Balasubramanian is a visiting scientist at the
National Eye Institute,
Bethesda and is a senior Fellow of ophthalmology at the
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...
.
He is the chairman of the ''Task Force on Stem Cell Research'' set up by the
Department of Biotechnology
The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) is an Indian government department, under the Ministry of Science and Technology responsible for administrating development and commercialisation in the field of modern biology and biotechnology in India. It ...
of the
Government of India
The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...
.
He is a former president of the
Indian Academy of Sciences (2007-2010)
and is the incumbent the chairman of the Biotechnology Advisory Council of the
Government of Andhra Pradesh
Government of Andhra Pradesh, abbreviated as, GOAP, or, Andhra Government, is the Subnational administrative division, subnational government for the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is an elected government with 175 Member of the Legislative ...
.
A former secretary general of
The World Academy of Sciences
The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) is a merit-based science academy established for developing countries, uniting 1,000 scientists in some 70 countries. Its principal aim is to promote scientific capacity and excellence for sustainable devel ...
,
he has served as the project coordinator of ''Translational Centre in Eye Diseases'' of
Champalimaud Foundation
The Champalimaud Foundation ( pt, Fundação Champalimaud) is a private biomedical research foundation. It was created according to the will of the late entrepreneur António de Sommer Champalimaud, in 2004. The complete name of the foundation ...
(C-TRACER) and the ''Affordable Healthcare Project'' of the
Wellcome Trust
The Wellcome Trust is a charitable foundation focused on health research based in London, in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1936 with legacies from the pharmaceutical magnate Henry Wellcome (founder of one of the predecessors of Glaxo ...
for finding solutions for the ''use of scaffolds for cultivating stem cells''.
He is a former member of the ''International Human Rights Network of Academies and Scholarly Societies'',
the ''International Basic Sciences Panel''
of
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
and the ''International Chapter Affiliate Committee of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology'' (ARVO),
United States.
He has also served as an editorial board member of several international journals.
He had also been appointed as one of the honorary advisory committee members for the International Conference on Genome Biology 2019 (ICGB'19) by the School of Biological Sciences of
Madurai Kamaraj University.
Legacy
Balasubramanian started his research activities in 1965 focusing on the structure and functions of proteins and
polypeptides and worked on the thermodynamic analysis of their stability.
The focus of his research changed in 1984/85 when he started to work on ocular science and concentrated on
crystallins
In anatomy, a crystallin is a water-soluble structural protein found in the lens and the cornea of the eye accounting for the transparency of the structure. It has also been identified in other places such as the heart, and in aggressive breast c ...
of eye lens and their function as an agent in keeping the lens transparent.
His research revealed how
cataract is caused when crystallins are damaged photochemically, thereby leading to diminished lenticular transparency.
He argued that the oxidative stress on the lens induces ''covalent chemical changes in the constituent molecules''
and these changes lead to cataract.
He researched further on the subject to find out that, by supplementing
antioxidants and cytoprotective substances, the progression of cataract can be slowed down.
These findings are known to have introduced a
prophylactic approach to addressing the issue of cataract, which is reported to be the causal factor for 47.9 percent
of the blindness in the world.
Further, he attempted to identify the cataractostatic agents and proposed the benefits of tea
polyphenols,
Ginko Biloba
''Ginkgo biloba'', commonly known as ginkgo or gingko ( ), also known as the maidenhair tree, is a species of tree native to China. It is the last living species in the order Ginkgoales, which first appeared over 290 million years ago. Fossils ...
and
Withania somnifera extracts.
These substances contained antioxidants and cytoprotective compounds which slow down the progression of ''oxidative cataract'' and this was verified during experiments in animals.
After the turn of the century, Balasubramanian and his colleagues started working on inherited eye diseases
and their
molecular genetics.
The group carried out research on diseases such as
congenital glaucoma
Primary juvenile glaucoma is glaucoma that develops due to ocular hypertension and is evident either at birth or within the first few years of life. It is caused due to abnormalities in the anterior chamber angle development that obstruct aqueous o ...
with a sampling set of over 400 families and this has helped in revealing 15 mutations in the ''gene CYP1B1'', with mutation R368H being the most common one.
The research has also recorded the ''
genotype
The genotype of an organism is its complete set of genetic material. Genotype can also be used to refer to the alleles or variants an individual carries in a particular gene or genetic location. The number of alleles an individual can have in a ...
–
phenotype
In genetics, the phenotype () is the set of observable characteristics or traits of an organism. The term covers the organism's morphology or physical form and structure, its developmental processes, its biochemical and physiological proper ...
correlations'' and the structural changes occur in mutated protein
and these findings have assisted in clinical prediction of the disease and in early therapeutic intervention to avert blindness.
Balasubramanian is now working on
stem cell biology
In multicellular organisms, stem cells are undifferentiated or partially differentiated cells that can differentiate into various types of cells and proliferate indefinitely to produce more of the same stem cell. They are the earliest type o ...
and its use in restoring lost vision.
He and his group have been successful in isolating the adult stem cells found in the
limbus
Limbus (Lat. "edge, boundary") may refer to:
* Corneal limbus, the border of the cornea and the sclera (the white of the eye)
* Limbus of fossa ovalis, in the heart
* Limbus 3 and Limbus 4, two line-ups of a German avant-garde musical group
* Li ...
, around the
cornea
The cornea is the transparent front part of the eye that covers the iris, pupil, and anterior chamber. Along with the anterior chamber and lens, the cornea refracts light, accounting for approximately two-thirds of the eye's total optical power ...
, and culturing them on human
amniotic membrane
The amnion is a membrane that closely covers the human and various other embryos when first formed. It fills with amniotic fluid, which causes the amnion to expand and become the amniotic sac that provides a protective environment for the develo ...
.
These cultured stem cells were, later, used to produce
corneal epithelia that can be stitched on to human eye. Clinical tests on 200 patients who lost eyesight due to chemical or fire burns returned significantly good results with vision restoration to 20/20 levels,
with or without subsequent
corneal graft
Corneal transplantation, also known as corneal grafting, is a surgical procedure where a damaged or diseased cornea is replaced by Corneal button, donated corneal tissue (the graft). When the entire cornea is replaced it is known as penetrating ...
s or transplantation.
These tests are reported to be the ''largest successful human trial of adult stem cell therapy'' in the world.
Balasubramanian has published 6 books
of which two books,
one on chemistry and the other in
biotechnology
Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used b ...
, are prescribed text books for academic studies.
He is credited with over 450 articles,
published in peer reviewed national and international journals
and
Microsoft Academic Search, an online repository of scientific articles, has listed 52 of them.
He has presented more than 170 scientific papers
and has contributed in popularizing science by writing columns in leading newspapers such as
The Hindu
''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...
and
The Times of India
''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...
since 1980.
On the academic front, he has assisted 16 doctoral students in their PhD studies.
His efforts are also reported behind the establishment of a vaccine unit at the
Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology
The Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology ( hi, कोशिकीय एवं आण्विक जीवविज्ञान केंद्र, IAST: ''Kośikīya evam āṇavik jīvavijñāna kendra'') or CCMB is an Indian fundamen ...
and in designing a quality improvement program for the
Sericulture
Sericulture, or silk farming, is the cultivation of silkworms to produce silk. Although there are several commercial species of silkworms, ''Bombyx mori'' (the caterpillar of the domestic silkmoth) is the most widely used and intensively studie ...
Laboratory of the state government.
Awards and recognitions
Dorairajan Balasubramanian, an honorary Professor of the
Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research
The Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) is a multidisciplinary research institute located at Jakkur, Bangalore, India. It was established by the Department of Science and Technology of the Government of India, to ...
, is an elected member of
Indian National Science Academy (INSA),
Indian Academy of Sciences (IAS),
National Academy of Sciences, India
The National Academy of Sciences, India, established in 1930, is the oldest science academy in India. It is located in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. Prof. Meghnad Saha was the founder president.
Fellows
*Suddhasatwa Basu
* Sudha Bhattacharya
* Ch ...
(NASI),
Third World Academy of Sciences
The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) is a merit-based science academy established for developing countries, uniting 1,000 scientists in some 70 countries. Its principal aim is to promote scientific capacity and excellence for sustainable devel ...
(TWAS) and the
American Association for the Advancement of Science
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...
.
He is also a Fellow of the
Academy of Sciences Leopoldina,
Germany, Mauritian Academy of Sciences
and the International Molecular Biology Network.
He has delivered many award lectures in India and abroad. In 1985, he delivered the National Lecture of the
University Grants Commission and the next year, the Prof. K. Venkataraman Endowment Lecture.
K. S. G. Doss Memorial Lecture and the SERC National Lecture were delivered in 1991 followed by Pasteur Centenary Lecture, R. P. Mitra Memorial Lecture and the Platinum Jubilee Lecture of the
Indian Science Congress Association
Indian Science Congress Association(ISCA) is a premier scientific organisation of India with headquarters at Kolkata, West Bengal. The association started in the year 1914 in Kolkata and it meets annually in the first week of January. It has a ...
in 1995. Some of the other award lectures given by Balasubramanian are:
*
Madurai Kamaraj University Convocation Address
* Ranganathan Centre for Information Studies Annual Lecture
* J. C. Ray Memorial Oration Award
*
C. V. Raman
Sir Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman (; 7 November 188821 November 1970) was an Indian physicist known for his work in the field of light scattering.
Using a spectrograph that he developed, he and his student K. S. Krishnan discovered that when ...
Lecture
* B. C. Guha Memorial Lecture
* Lily Pithavadian Endowment Lecture
*
BHU
Banaras Hindu University (BHU) IAST: kāśī hindū viśvavidyālaya IPA: /kaːʃiː hɪnd̪uː ʋɪʃwəʋid̪jaːləj/), is a collegiate, central, and research university located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, and founded in 1916. ...
Foundation Lecture
* TNAU-MFL Endowment Lecture
* Kumari L. A. Meera Memorial Lecture
* Prof. McBain Memorial Lecture
*
Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany
The Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences (formerly, Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany; BSIP) is an autonomous institute constituted under the Department of Science and Technology (India), Department of Science and Technology, Government ...
Foundation Day Lecture
* Jana Reddy Venkata Reddy Endowment Lecture
* Sri Venugopal Oration Medical Research Foundation Lecture
* Elite School of Optometry Convocation Address Foundation Day Lecture
* Dr. P. S. Murthy Memorial Lecture
* Dr. Ram Mohan Rao Oration
* Dr. K. Gopalakrishna Oration
Balasubramanian received his first award, the Rev. Fr. L. M. Yeddanapalli Memorial Award and Medal of the
Indian Chemical Society in 1977.
In 1981, he was awarded the
Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize
The Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology (SSB) is a science award in India given annually by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) for notable and outstanding research, Applied science, applied or Fundamenta ...
in chemical science by the
Council for Scientific and Industrial Research
The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) is South Africa's central and premier scientific research and development organisation. It was established by an act of parliament in 1945 and is situated on its own campus in the cit ...
.
The year 1983 brought him three awards, the SBCI Sarma Memorial Award,
FICCI
The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) is a non-governmental trade association and advocacy group based in India.
History
Established in 1927, on the advice of Mahatma Gandhi by Indian businessman G.D. Birla and ...
Award and the
ICMR M. O. T. Iyengar Award.
He received the Ranbaxy Award in 1990,
the Fukui Award of the National Foundation for Eye Research, United States, in 1991 and Dr. Mahendra Lal Sircar Prize from the
Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science in 1994.
The
Third World Academy of Science honoured Balasubramanian with the
TWAS Prize
This is a list of recipients of the TWAS Prize, awarded annually by The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS).
Summary
Agricultural Sciences
Biology
Chemistry
Earth Sciences
Engineering Sciences
Mathematics
Medical Sc ...
in 1995
and
(IROST) conferred the ''Khwarizmi Award of Iran'' on him in 1996.
He received the
Om Prakash Bhasin Award
Om Prakash Bhasin Award for Science and Technology is an Indian award, instituted in 1985 to recognize excellence in the areas of science and technology. The award, given individually or collectively to a group, is annual in cycle and carries a p ...
and the
Kalinga Prize in 1997
and the next year, he received Goyal Prize of the Goyal Research Foundation
and J. C. Bose Medal of the
Indian National Science Academy (INSA).
The
Government of India
The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...
honoured him with the civilian award of
Padma Shri
Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...
in 2002.
The
Government of France
The Government of France ( French: ''Gouvernement français''), officially the Government of the French Republic (''Gouvernement de la République française'' ), exercises executive power in France. It is composed of the Prime Minister, who ...
followed suit with the
Chevalier de l’Ordre National de Merite, the same year.
He received a third award in 2002 from the
Department of Science and Technology, the National Prize for Science Popularization.
He is also a recipient of the
INSA Indira Gandhi Prize
and the Jawaharlal Nehru Centenary Award for Achievement in Science of the
Indian Science Congress Association
Indian Science Congress Association(ISCA) is a premier scientific organisation of India with headquarters at Kolkata, West Bengal. The association started in the year 1914 in Kolkata and it meets annually in the first week of January. It has a ...
(ISCA).
See also
*
Crystallin
*
Molecular genetics
*
Stem cell biology
In multicellular organisms, stem cells are undifferentiated or partially differentiated cells that can differentiate into various types of cells and proliferate indefinitely to produce more of the same stem cell. They are the earliest type o ...
*
Corneal epithelium
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Balasubramanian, Dorairajan
Living people
1939 births
Scientists from Tamil Nadu
Indian technology writers
Recipients of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in Chemical Science
Recipients of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology
Indian medical writers
Recipients of the Padma Shri in science & engineering
Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy
Fellows of the Indian Academy of Sciences
Fellows of The National Academy of Sciences, India
Indian biochemists
20th-century Indian chemists
TWAS laureates
Kalinga Prize recipients
Fellows of the African Academy of Sciences
Associate Fellows of the African Academy of Sciences