Manojit Mohan Dhar (1927–2003) was an Indian natural product chemist and the director of

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 ...

. He was known for his researches on peptides and the synthesis of the internucleotide bond and was an elected fellow of the Indian National Science Academy. 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 l ...

, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1971, for his contributions to chemical sciences.

Biography

M. M. Dhar, born on 13 January 1927, secured a PhD from Manchester University in 1952 for his thesis on peptides and joined

(CDRI) where he worked as a deputy director, heading the Division of Medicinal Chemistry and Botany and subsequently, as the director of the institute. Later, he worked as the counselor of science to the

High Commission of India to the United Kingdom The High Commission of India in London is the diplomatic mission of India in the United Kingdom. It is located in India House on Aldwych, between Bush House, what was Marconi House (now Citibank) and Australia House. It faces both the London S ...

. His researches were focused on the constituents of a number of indigenous plants and he studied their structures with a view to find their therapeutic uses. Thus, he discovered the glycosidase activity of decapeptides,

abortifacient An abortifacient ("that which will cause a miscarriage" from Latin: ''abortus'' "miscarriage" and '' faciens'' "making") is a substance that induces abortion. This is a nonspecific term which may refer to any number of substances or medications, ...

properties of tetrapeptide, receptor mimicking of

acetylcholine Acetylcholine (ACh) is an organic chemical that functions in the brain and body of many types of animals (including humans) as a neurotransmitter. Its name is derived from its chemical structure: it is an ester of acetic acid and choline. Part ...

s and

immunostimulant Immunostimulants, also known as immunostimulators, are substances (drugs and nutrients) that stimulate the immune system by inducing activation or increasing activity of any of its components. One notable example is the granulocyte macrophage colon ...

and

immunosuppressant Immunosuppressive drugs, also known as immunosuppressive agents, immunosuppressants and antirejection medications, are drugs that inhibit or prevent activity of the immune system. Classification Immunosuppressive drugs can be classified in ...

qualities of ''compounds that target opioid receptors''. He was known to have screened over three thousand indigenous plant species for studying their structures and through his researches, he suggested that the secondary metabolites of microbial origin were formed during the detoxification of toxic constituent of the microorganism. He identified several active ingredients in plants and developed a new method of synthesis of internucleotide bond, using

pyrimidine Pyrimidine (; ) is an aromatic, heterocyclic, organic compound similar to pyridine (). One of the three diazines (six-membered heterocyclics with two nitrogen atoms in the ring), it has nitrogen atoms at positions 1 and 3 in the ring. The other ...

and purine anhydronucleosides. He discovered that the synthesis of quinomycin A could be catalysed by a cell-free extract of

streptomyces ''Streptomyces'' is the largest genus of Actinomycetota and the type genus of the family Streptomycetaceae. Over 500 species of ''Streptomyces'' bacteria have been described. As with the other Actinomycetota, streptomycetes are gram-positive, ...

. He was also a part of the CDRI investigation on parasitic protozoa causing diseases such as amoebiasis,

leishmaniasis Leishmaniasis is a wide array of clinical manifestations caused by parasites of the trypanosome genus ''Leishmania''. It is generally spread through the bite of phlebotomine sandflies, ''Phlebotomus'' and ''Lutzomyia'', and occurs most freq ...

, filariasis,

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 ...

and

helminthiasis Helminthiasis, also known as worm infection, is any macroparasitic disease of humans and other animals in which a part of the body is infected with parasitic worms, known as helminths. There are numerous species of these parasites, which are br ...

. Dhar published his research findings in a number of articles and his works have been quoted by many scholars. He was associated with

Bombay Natural History Society The Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), founded on 15 September 1883, is one of the largest non-governmental organisations in India engaged in conservation and biodiversity research. It supports many research efforts through grants and publi ...

and Indian Chemical Society as a life member and sat in the council of Indian National Science Academy from 1988 to 1990. A former chair (1982) of the Commonwealth Agricultural Bureau International, he served as the commissioner of India chapter of the International Whaling Commission in 1982 and was a member of the Indian delegation to United Nations Vienna Conference on S&T for Development in 1979, Man and the Biosphere Programme conference held in Paris in 1979,

World Climate Conference The World Climate Conferences are a series of international meetings, organized by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), about global climate issues principally global warming in addition to climate research and forecasting. Conferences ...

of Geneva in 1979 and the Heads of Science meeting of

Group of 77 The Group of 77 (G77) at the United Nations (UN) is a coalition of 134 developing countries, designed to promote its members' collective economic interests and create an enhanced joint negotiating capacity in the United Nations. There were 77 fou ...

in Delhi in 1982. M. M. Dhar died on 26 May 2003 at the age of 76.

Awards and honours

The

awarded Dhar 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 ...

, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1971 and the A. V. Mody Research Foundation Award reached him 1975. In between, the Indian National Science Academy elected him as their fellow in 1973. The Central Drug Research Institute have instituted an annual award, ''Dr. M. M. Dhar Memorial Distinguished Career Achievement Award'', for honouring excellence in research in chemical sciences.

Citations

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Selected bibliography

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Notes

References