13/04/2017
He is Yellapragada Subbarao.
I am 100% confident that none of you have ever heard this name. Yet he was one of the most important biochemist and scientists of not only India but of entire world in the 20th century. He lead one of the most important medical researches in America during World War Two.
He discovered the role of phosphocreatine and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) as an energy source in the cell. This lead to the foundation of biochemistry and all the further discoveries in this field are directly or indirectly influenced by this.
He developed methotrexate for the treatment of cancer. This, without a doubt, is the single most important drug for the treatment of innumerable cancers. He has saved literally millions of life through this drug.
He discovered Diethylcarbamazine. This drug is the only good treatment available for filariasis or elephant foot, which if not treated, makes the life of the patient a living hell.
Working under Subbarao's guidance, Duggar made his discovery of the world's first tetracycline antibiotic, Aureomycin, in 1945. Do you have any idea what does word Aureo signifies. It is a latin word for Gold, meaning that it ushered the Golden era of antibiotics where millions of death will be prevented.
Despite all these superhuman achievements:
Except few people who are working in this field, no one knows him, especially in India.
He was denied fellowship in Harvard.
He lived without a green card throughout his life.
He was wronged by many of his fellow colleagues, who took all the fame, glory and patents on his work.
He was awarded a lesser LMS certificate not a full MBBS degree despite being one of the best student in the class. This is because he wore Khadi surgical dresses on Gandhi's boycott call, which displeased Dr. Bradfield, his surgical professor.
Please spread this message as much as you can about Dr. Subbarao. He is one of the best minds India has ever produced and I always cry when people display their ignorance by saying that why don't India have good scientists in medical field.
No matter how constrained and tied you are in terms of resources, if you have talent and single-minded ruthless focus, like Dr. Subbarao, you can literally achieve whatever you want.
Don't behave like dumb wits, worshiping celebrities, reality shows and stupid TV series and movies, which lowers the IQ of entire human race.
Lets celebrate our true heroes, which make indelible impact on real life.
- Roman Saini - Unacademy
Inspiring Young India