Rajnish Khanna (born 13 September 1966) is an

Indian-American Indian Americans or Indo-Americans are citizens of the United States with ancestry from India. The United States Census Bureau uses the term Asian Indian to avoid confusion with Native Americans, who have also historically been referred to ...

photobiologist and entrepreneur, with a focus on

nutrition Nutrition is the biochemical and physiological process by which an organism uses food to support its life. It provides organisms with nutrients, which can be metabolized to create energy and chemical structures. Failure to obtain sufficient n ...

health Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...

, and globally sustainable practices. Khanna is a research scientist at the Carnegie Institution at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

. He is the founder of i-Cultiver, Inc. He also serves as a scientific advisor for author Deblina Bhattacharya The Chopra Foundation by

Deepak Chopra Deepak Chopra (; ; born October 22, 1946) is an Indian-American author and alternative medicine advocate. A prominent figure in the New Age movement, his books and videos have made him one of the best-known and wealthiest figures in alternati ...

Biography

Khanna is founder and

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of i-Cultiver, Inc. and Global Food Scholar, Inc, enabling technologies such as CLASlite, a software to convert

satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioisotope ...

imagery into quantitative greenness maps for global scale

agroecology Agroecology (US: a-grō-ē-ˈkä-lə-jē) is an academic discipline that studies ecological processes applied to agricultural production systems. Bringing ecological principles to bear can suggest new management approaches in agroecosystems. The ...

projects. Khanna is creating the online local food marketing platform, TerreLocal to digitally map food supply with local demand. Khanna is working with The Chopra Foundation by Deepak Chopra on several projects, including rewilding and the future of food.Deepak Chopra™, Poonacha Machaiah, Rajnish Khanna (2021) A renewed planet starts with food. SFGate, LinkedIn, deepakchopra.medium.com

Education, career, and scientific work

Khanna attended

St. Xavier's School, Delhi St. Xavier’s Senior Secondary School is a private Catholic primary and secondary school located in Raj Niwas Marg in the Civil Lines area of North Delhi, in India. Founded by the Jesuits in 1960 as a residential school for boys only, the scho ...

(India) throughout his early education from kindergarten through high school. He completed his undergraduate studies (

botany Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek w ...

) at

Hindu College Hindu College may refers to several colleges around the world, including: India *Dharmamurthi Rao Bhahadur Calavala Cunnan Chetty's Hindu College, Chennai, Tamil Nadu * Gobardanga Hindu College, West Bengal * Gokul Das Hindu Girls College, Moradab ...

University of Delhi Delhi University (DU), formally the University of Delhi, is a collegiate central university located in New Delhi, India. It was founded in 1922 by an Act of the Central Legislative Assembly and is recognized as an Institute of Eminence (IoE) ...

. He completed his

M.Sc. A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

research in 1990, supervised by Jitendra Khurana with a focus on photobiology. Khanna moved to

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of Mary ...

to work with John C. Watson and isolated the Pisum sativum Protein Kinase 3 (PSPK3 gene) from green peas.Khanna, R., Santner, A.A. and Watson, J.C. (2006) Activity and photoregulated expression of PsPK3. Plant Sci. 170:347-355.Khanna, R., Lin, X. and Watson, J.C. (1999) Photoregulated expression of the PsPK3 and PsPK5 genes in pea seedlings. Plant Mol. Biol. 39:231-242. He continued his work with Watson to pursue a doctorate degree at IUPUI (Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis) and received Ph.D. in plant molecular biology from Purdue University in 1998. Khanna worked with Berl R. Oakley at Ohio State University on isolating gamma-tubulin from plants. For postdoctoral research, Khanna joined Peter H. Quail's lab at the Plant Gene Expression Center / USDA /

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. During his postdoctoral research, Khanna isolated PIF5 (Phytochrome Interacting Protein 5)Khanna, R., Shen, Y., Marion, C.M., Tsuchisaka, A., Theologis, A., Schaefer, E. and Quail, P.H. (2007) The basic helox-loop-helix transcription factor PIF5 acts on ethylene biosynthesis and phytochrome signaling by distinct mechanisms. Plant Cell 19:3915-3929. and identified the APB (Active-Phytochrome Binding) motif,Khanna, R., Huq, E., Kikis, E.A., Al-Sady, B., Lanzatella, C. and Quail, P.H. (2004) A novel molecular recognition motif necessary for targeting photoactivated phytochrome signaling to specific basic helix-loop-helix transcription factors. Plant Cell 16 (11):3033-3044. the specific region required for PIF proteins to interact with light-activated phytochrome B photoreceptor. Between 2006 and 2012, Khanna served as the Lead Advocate at Mendel Biotechnology, Hayward, CA to determine the mode of action of a single gene-based technology being developed for yield enhancement in multiple commercial crops. This work led to the discovery of the first intrinsic (plant origin) single-gene product with potential to increase crop yield in broad growing regions.Preuss, S.B., Meister, R., Xu, Q., Urwin, C., Tripodi, F. Screen, S., Anil, V.S., Zhu, S., Morrell, J., Liu, G., Ratcliffe, O.J., Reuber, T.L., Khanna, R., Goldman, B.S., Bell, E., Ziegler, T., McClerren, A.M., Ruff, T.G., and Petracek, M.E. (2012) Expression of the Arabidopsis thaliana BBX32 Gene in Soybean Increases Grain Yield. PLoS One. 7:e30717. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0030717Holtan, H.E., Bandong, S., Marion, C.M., Adam, L., Tiwari, S.B., Shen, Y., Maloof, J.N., Maszle, D.R., Ohto, M-a., Preuss, S., Meister, R., Petracek, M.E., Repetti, P.P., Reuber, T.L., Ratcliffe, O.J., and Khanna, R. (2011) BBX32, an Arbidopsis B-box protein, functions in light signaling by suppressing HY5-regulated gene expression and interacting with STH2/BBX21. Plant Phys. 156:2109-2123. Khanna is the recipient of the Honorary Business & Entrepreneurship Speaker (2015), Las Positas College, Livermore CA, along with awards for Teaching Excellence and Outstanding Research from various institutions. Khanna gave a TEDx, Livermore talk in 2015, “Growing food to feed and nourish the planet”, and recently co-authored a paper on the discovery of

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide (chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is transpar ...

-mediated global greening and its implications for climate change.Kutschera, U., Khanna, R. (2021
Experimental plant research and the discovery of carbon dioxide-mediated global greening: a tribute to Wilhelm Pfeffer (1845–1920)
J. Plant. Biochem. Biotechnol. 30, , 407– 420 ]

Publications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khanna, Rajnish 1966 births Living people Plant physiologists 21st-century American biologists