Current Science

Govindarajan Padmanaban ¹, Renu Swarup ²

Affiliations
1 Department of Biochemistry, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru 560 012, IN
2 Department of Biotechnology and Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council, Government of India, New Delhi, IN

Abstract

Biotechnology, a word coined in 1919 by the Hungarian Engineer Karl Ereky, was used to denote products derived from raw materials with the aid of living organisms. It evolved from brewing and fermentation industries to address requirements in almost all facets of day-to-day life: health and disease, food and agriculture, environment and industry. The elucidation of the DNA structure in 1953 and the advent of genetic engineering tools in the 1970s have provided an unlimited scope for the application of this technology. Growth in the biopharmaceutical sector would give a rough measure of the rate of growth of biotechnology globally.

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Renu Swarup ¹

Affiliations
1 Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science & Technology Government of India, New Delhi 110 003, IN

Abstract

India lost a titan of Science and Medicine on 26 January 2020. Professor Maharaj Kishan Bhan, Former Secretary of the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India, was in the true sense, a born leader. A leader who led by example. Born in 1947, the year India attained Independence, the spark of life left him when the country was celebrating its 72nd Republic Day – he was destined to be part of the country’s history, both in life and death.

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