Guru Prakash Dutta (19 November 1933 - 25 April 2021) was an Indian cell biologist and immunologist, known for his contributions to the subjects of Experimental

protozoology Protozoology is the study of protozoa, the "animal-like" (i.e., motile and heterotrophic) protists. The Protozoa are considered to be a subkingdom of Protista. They are free-living organisms that are found in almost every habitat. All humans have pr ...

and

Immunology Immunology is a branch of medicineImmunology for Medical Students, Roderick Nairn, Matthew Helbert, Mosby, 2007 and biology that covers the medical study of immune systems in humans, animals, plants and sapient species. In such we can see the ...

. His researches are reported to have assisted in the development of a number of anti-malarial drugs. He was an elected fellow of the

Indian National Science Academy The Indian National Science Academy (INSA) is a national academy in New Delhi for Indian scientists in all branches of science and technology. In August 2019, Dr. Chandrima Shaha was appointed as the president of Indian National Science Acade ...

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 ...

and Indian Society of Parasitology. The

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research ( IAST: ''vaigyanik tathā audyogik anusandhāna pariṣada''), abbreviated as CSIR, was established by the Government of India in September 1942 as an autonomous body that has emerged as the ...

, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the

Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology 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 or fundamental, in biology, ...

, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1976, for his contributions to biological sciences.

Biography

Guru Prakash Dutta, after graduating in zoology in 1952 from DAV College,

Jallandhar Jalandhar is the third most-populous city in the Indian state of Punjab and the largest city in Doaba region. Jalandhar lies alongside the Grand Trunk Road and is a well-connected rail and road junction. Jalandhar is northwest of the state ...

of Punjab University, followed it up with an honors degree in 1955, a master's degree (MSc) in 1956 and a doctoral degree (PhD) in 1961 from the same institution. He started his career as a lecturer at his alma mater in 1962 where he stayed till his move to

Central Drug Research Institute The Central Drug Research Institute is a multidisciplinary research laboratory in Lucknow, India, employing scientific personnel from various areas of biomedical sciences. Prof. Tapas Kumar Kundu, a molecular biologist, academician and recipien ...

(CDRI) in 1964; in between, he had a stint at

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...

, Bethesda as a post-doctoral fellow during 1962–63. He served CDRI for more than three decades and was a director's grade scientist at the time of his superannuation in 1993. Post his retirement, he served as an emeritus scientist of the

at CDRI from 1994 to 1998 and as an honorary consultant on

Malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

at the Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants from 1998 to 2000. Dutta, whose researches on experimental

assisted in a wider understanding of protozoa and its functional

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines * Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts * Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies ...

, is known to have developed new techniques for the culture of those unicellular

eukaryotic Eukaryotes () are organisms whose Cell (biology), cells have a cell nucleus, nucleus. All animals, plants, fungi, and many unicellular organisms, are Eukaryotes. They belong to the group of organisms Eukaryota or Eukarya, which is one of the ...

organisms and studied their metabolic and growth responses to ''physico-chemical'' factors, with special emphasis on

Entamoeba histolytica ''Entamoeba histolytica'' is an anaerobic parasitic amoebozoan, part of the genus ''Entamoeba''. Predominantly infecting humans and other primates causing amoebiasis, ''E. histolytica'' is estimated to infect about 35-50 million people worldwid ...

, an

anaerobic Anaerobic means "living, active, occurring, or existing in the absence of free oxygen", as opposed to aerobic which means "living, active, or occurring only in the presence of oxygen." Anaerobic may also refer to: * Anaerobic adhesive, a bonding a ...

parasite which causes

amoebiasis Amoebiasis, or amoebic dysentery, is an infection of the intestines caused by a parasitic amoeba '' Entamoeba histolytica''. Amoebiasis can be present with no, mild, or severe symptoms. Symptoms may include lethargy, loss of weight, colonic ...

. His work on the antimalarial drugs helped in the development of several fast-acting drugs and ''alpha/beta'' arteether, ''alpha'' and ''beta'' arteether, ''alpha'' and ''beta'' artelinate, dihydroartemisinin,

pyronaridine Pyronaridine is an antimalarial drug. It was first made in 1970 and has been in clinical use in China since the 1980s. In a small (n=88) malaria study in Camaroon, pyronaridine had a 100% cure rate, compared with 60% for chloroquine. It is one ...

, bulaquine and Tefenoquine are some of drugs developed with the assistance of his researches. Dutta's researches have been detailed in over 275 articles and two books, ''Antimalarial Drug Development and Prophylaxis against Malaria'' and ''Experimental and Clinical Studies on Amoebiasis''. The International Review of Cytology of

Academic Press Academic Press (AP) is an academic book publisher founded in 1941. It was acquired by Harcourt, Brace & World in 1969. Reed Elsevier bought Harcourt in 2000, and Academic Press is now an imprint of Elsevier. Academic Press publishes referen ...

has published five reviews, three on

Cytochemistry Cytochemistry is the branch of cell biology dealing with the detection of cell constituents by means of biochemical analysis and visualization techniques. This is the study of the localization of cellular components through the use of staining me ...

and ultrastructure of Protozoa and two on

Amoebiasis Amoebiasis, or amoebic dysentery, is an infection of the intestines caused by a parasitic amoeba '' Entamoeba histolytica''. Amoebiasis can be present with no, mild, or severe symptoms. Symptoms may include lethargy, loss of weight, colonic ...

and ResearchGate, an online repository of scientific articles, has listed 130 of his papers. He has been a collaborator for

Walter Reed Army Institute of Research The Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR) is the largest biomedical research facility administered by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD). The institute is centered at the Forest Glen Annex, in the Forest Glen Park part of the uni ...

in two of their international programs on Malaria which ran between 1983 and 1994. He has also mentored 40 master's and doctoral scholars in their researches. Dutta received the degree of Doctor of Science from the Punjab University in 1973 and the

awarded him 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 or fundamental, in biology, ...

, one of the highest Indian science awards, for his contributions to biological sciences in 1976. The

elected him as their fellow in 1984 and the

followed INSA with their fellowship in 1991. He was also elected by the Indian Society for Parasitology as a fellow in 1993.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dutta, Guru Prakash 1933 births 2021 deaths Recipients of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in Biological Science Indian cell biologists Indian immunologists Panjab University alumni National Institutes of Health people Indian medical writers Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy Fellows of The National Academy of Sciences, India Council of Scientific and Industrial Research 20th-century Indian biologists Scientists from Punjab, India

Biography

See also

Notes

References