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Darshan Ranganathan (4 June 1941 – 4 June 2001) was an
In 1970, she began research at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT Kanpur). In that year, she married Subramania Ranganathan, with whom she would go on to author ''Challenging problems in organic reaction mechanisms'' (1972), ''Art in biosynthesis: the synthetic chemist's challenge'' (1976), and ''Further challenging problems in organic reaction mechanisms'' (1980)—as well as editing an ongoing series titled "Current Organic Chemistry Highlights".
She continued her research at IIT Kanpur on the basis of fellowships. Unwritten rules prevented her from joining the faculty because her husband was already a member.
She began work at Regional Research Laboratory, Trivandrum in 1993, and at IICT, Hyderabad in 1998., where she became Deputy Director. During these years, she conducted ongoing collaborations with Isabella Karle at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory.
Darshan Ranganathan was diagnosed with
Publications by Darshan Ranganathan
, Microsoft Academic Search {{DEFAULTSORT:Ranganathan, Darshan 1941 births 2001 deaths Indian biochemists Indian organic chemists Delhi University alumni 20th-century Indian chemists Place of birth missing 20th-century Indian women scientists Indian women biochemists 20th-century Indian biologists Women scientists from Delhi TWAS laureates
organic chemist
Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the science, scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds and organic matter, organic materials, i.e., matter in its various forms that contain ...
from India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
who was known for her work in bio-organic chemistry, including "pioneering work in protein folding
Protein folding is the physical process by which a protein, after Protein biosynthesis, synthesis by a ribosome as a linear chain of Amino acid, amino acids, changes from an unstable random coil into a more ordered protein tertiary structure, t ...
." She was also recognized for her work in " supramolecular assemblies, molecular design, chemical simulation of key biological processes, synthesis of functional hybrid peptides and synthesis of nanotubes."
Early life
Darshan Ranganathan was born as Darshan Markan on 4 June 1941 to Vidyavati Markan and Shanti Swarup in Delhi. She was educated in Delhi and received a Ph.D. in chemistry fromDelhi University
The Delhi University (DU, ISO 15919, ISO: ), also and officially known as the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate research university, research Central university (India), central university located in Delhi, India. It ...
in 1967. First hired as a lecturer, she became head of the Chemistry Department at Miranda College, Delhi, and went on to receive an 1851 Research Fellowship
The 1851 Research Fellowship is a scheme conducted by the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 to annually award a three-year research scholarship to approximately eight "young scientists or engineers of exceptional promise". The fellowship ...
from the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851
The Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 is an institution founded in 1850 to administer the Great Exhibition, Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations, which was held in The Crystal Palace, London.
The founding Presid ...
, to enable her to conduct postdoctoral work at Imperial College London with Professor D.H.R. Barton.
Career
In 1970, she began research at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT Kanpur). In that year, she married Subramania Ranganathan, with whom she would go on to author ''Challenging problems in organic reaction mechanisms'' (1972), ''Art in biosynthesis: the synthetic chemist's challenge'' (1976), and ''Further challenging problems in organic reaction mechanisms'' (1980)—as well as editing an ongoing series titled "Current Organic Chemistry Highlights".
She continued her research at IIT Kanpur on the basis of fellowships. Unwritten rules prevented her from joining the faculty because her husband was already a member.
She began work at Regional Research Laboratory, Trivandrum in 1993, and at IICT, Hyderabad in 1998., where she became Deputy Director. During these years, she conducted ongoing collaborations with Isabella Karle at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory.
Darshan Ranganathan was diagnosed with breast cancer
Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...
in 1997, and died on her 60th birthday, in 2001.
The biennial "Professor Darshan Ranganathan Memorial Lecture", which is to be "delivered by a woman scientist who has made outstanding contributions in any field of Science and Technology" was established in her memory by her husband, in 2001.
Notable accomplishments
She was a Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences. She also won the A.V. Rama Rao Foundation Award, the Jawaharlal Nehru Birth Centenary Visiting Fellowship, Third World Academy of Sciences Award in Chemistry in 1999 for her work in bio-organic chemistry, and the Sukh Dev Endowment Lectureship. At the time of her passing away, she was the most prolific organic chemist in India, having, in the last five years, a dozen publications in The Journal of the American Chemical Society, six in the Journal of Organic Chemistry and dozens in others. Her monumental contribution to the Accounts of Chemical Research was published, as well as many other papers, posthumously. She was elected Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Indian National Science Academy and the recipient of many honors the last of which was The Third World Academy of Sciences Award in chemistry for her outstanding contributions to bio-organic chemistry, particularly supramolecular assemblies, molecular design, chemical simulation of key biological processes, synthesis of functional hybrid peptides and synthesis of nanotubes, in 1999.Work
Ranganathan's special passion was reproducing natural biochemical processes in the laboratory. She created a protocol which achieved the autonomous reproduction ofimidazole
Imidazole (ImH) is an organic compound with the formula . It is a white or colourless solid that is soluble in water, producing a mildly alkaline solution. It can be classified as a heterocycle, specifically as a diazole.
Many natural products, ...
, an ingredient of histadine and histamine
Histamine is an organic nitrogenous compound involved in local immune responses communication, as well as regulating physiological functions in the gut and acting as a neurotransmitter for the brain, spinal cord, and uterus. Discovered in 19 ...
with pharmaceutical importance. She also developed a working simulation of the urea cycle
The urea cycle (also known as the ornithine cycle) is a cycle of biochemical reactions that produces urea (NH2)2CO from ammonia (NH3). Animals that use this cycle, mainly amphibians and mammals, are called ureotelic.
The urea cycle converts highl ...
. As her career developed, she became a specialist in designing proteins to hold a wide variety of different conformations and designing nanostructures using self-assembling peptides.
References
External links
Publications by Darshan Ranganathan
, Microsoft Academic Search {{DEFAULTSORT:Ranganathan, Darshan 1941 births 2001 deaths Indian biochemists Indian organic chemists Delhi University alumni 20th-century Indian chemists Place of birth missing 20th-century Indian women scientists Indian women biochemists 20th-century Indian biologists Women scientists from Delhi TWAS laureates