M. R. N. Murthy (Mattur Ramabhadrashastry Narasimha Murthy), was a professor of

molecular biophysics Molecular biophysics is a rapidly evolving interdisciplinary area of research that combines concepts in physics, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and biology. It seeks to understand biomolecular systems and explain biological function in terms ...

at the

Indian Institute of Science The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) is a public, deemed, research university for higher education and research in science, engineering, design, and management. It is located in Bengaluru, in the Indian state of Karnataka. The institute wa ...

, IISc,

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

. He currently teaches at the Institute of Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology, Bengaluru. His chief contributions are in the area of

X-ray An X-ray, or, much less commonly, X-radiation, is a penetrating form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 10 picometers to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30&nb ...

crystallography Crystallography is the experimental science of determining the arrangement of atoms in crystalline solids. Crystallography is a fundamental subject in the fields of materials science and solid-state physics (condensed matter physics). The wor ...

. He was awarded the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar award for outstanding contribution to

physical sciences Physical science is a branch of natural science that studies non-living systems, in contrast to life science. It in turn has many branches, each referred to as a "physical science", together called the "physical sciences". Definition Phy ...

, which is the highest honour for a

scientist A scientist is a person who conducts Scientific method, scientific research to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, in the year 1992.

Biographical sketch

M.R.N. Murthy was born in the small village of Mathur situated in the

Shimoga Shimoga, officially known as Shivamogga, is a city and the district headquarters of Shimoga district in the central part of the state of Karnataka, India. The city lies on the banks of the Tunga River. Being the gateway for the hilly region of ...

District of

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

State. The primary

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...

of Murthy was at the Government school of his native village. He obtained higher secondary education in the nearby town of Shimoga, as there was no higher secondary

school A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compuls ...

in the village. Murthy belongs to one of the initial generations to leave the village for higher education. Because of this background, Murthy has intimate knowledge of

n rural

traditions A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...

and customs. After his Pre-

University A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

education at Shimoga, Murthy joined the Central College in Bangalore as an honours student of

physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

. Following this, he joined the

Indian Institute of Technology The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are central government owned public technical institutes located across India. They are under the ownership of the Ministry of Education of the Government of India. They are governed by the Institu ...

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

(the present Chennai) to study masters course in physics. After obtaining masters degree, he joined the

organic chemistry Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds and organic materials, i.e., matter in its various forms that contain carbon atoms.Clayden, J.; ...

Department of the prestigious

for his

doctoral A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...

studies under the guidance of Professor K. Venkatesan, a well-known Indian crystallographer. Murthy's doctoral work was partially concerned with conformation of

peptides Peptides (, ) are short chains of amino acids linked by peptide bonds. Long chains of amino acids are called proteins. Chains of fewer than twenty amino acids are called oligopeptides, and include dipeptides, tripeptides, and tetrapeptides. A p ...

. Murthy determined some peptide structures and carried out molecular mechanics calculation on model peptides to understand their conformational properties. These studies kindled Murthy's interest in macromolecular

. Therefore, after obtaining his doctorate degree from the Indian Institute of Science, he joined

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

West Lafayette West Lafayette () is a city in Wabash Township, Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, about northwest of the state capital of Indianapolis and southeast of Chicago. West Lafayette is directly across the Wabash River from its sister c ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

, United States, as a post doctoral fellow to work on structure determination of

glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase Glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (abbreviated GAPDH) () is an enzyme of about 37kDa that catalyzes the sixth step of glycolysis and thus serves to break down glucose for energy and carbon molecules. In addition to this long establishe ...

and catalase under the leadership of Professor M.G. Rossmann, a world-renowned crystallographer. After spending 4 years, which gave the Murthy the experience and confidence to initiate his own studies in

structural biology Structural biology is a field that is many centuries old which, and as defined by the Journal of Structural Biology, deals with structural analysis of living material (formed, composed of, and/or maintained and refined by living cells) at every le ...

, he returned to the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. During the initial year, he was associated with the Department of Physics following which he joined the

Molecular Biophysics Molecular biophysics is a rapidly evolving interdisciplinary area of research that combines concepts in physics, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and biology. It seeks to understand biomolecular systems and explain biological function in terms ...

Unit of the same Institute, where he has remained since. He initiated structural studies on isometric

viruses A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea. Since Dmitri Ivanovsky's 1 ...

in India at a time when research on macromolecular

protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, respo ...

crystallography was being initiated for the first time in the country by Professor M. Vijayan at the Molecular Biophysics Unit of IISc and Dr. K.K. Kannan at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Bombay. At that time, there were no experimental facilities for carrying out macromolecular structural work at the Indian Institute of Science, or anywhere else in the country. Murthy, along with Professor M. Vijayan, established

X-ray diffraction X-ray crystallography is the experimental science determining the atomic and molecular structure of a crystal, in which the crystalline structure causes a beam of incident X-rays to diffract into many specific directions. By measuring the angles ...

facility at the Molecular Biophysics Unit, which served as the national nucleus for crystallographic work in the initial decade of such structural work in India. His success is reflected in the successful conclusion of several structural studies on virus particles, which are the only such studies performed in the twentieth century in South East Asia. He successfully determined the structure of Sesabania Mosaic virus. Prof. Murthy is an exceptional teacher and mentor. His course on advanced biomolecular crystallography was very popular with students at the Indian Institute of Science. His unique teaching methodology combined with his passion for the science he was doing was infectious and has inspired a generation of scientists.

Awards

Adjunct professor at Purdue University, 1989-1992. Elected to the Indian Academy of Sciences, 1992. Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar Prize, 1993. Elected to the Indian National Science Academy, 1996. Indian Science Platinum Jubilee Lecture, 1999. Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, 2001. Rustum Choksi award for excellence in Science, 2002. R.L. Kapur endowment lecture, Ramanujan Mathematical Society, 2003 G. N. Ramachandran Commemoration award, 2003 Fellow of the third world Academy of sciences, 2004 Hari Om Ashram Trust Award, 2004 Jagdish Chandra Bose Award for Life Sciences, 2005 Astra-Zeneca distinguished Scientist award for the popularization of Science, 2005

References

External links

Prof Murthy's homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murthy, M. R. N. Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Scientists from Karnataka Academic staff of the Indian Institute of Science IIT Madras alumni People from Shimoga district Recipients of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in Biological Science