Manchanahalli Rangaswamy Satyanarayana Rao (21 January 1948 – 13 August 2023) was an Indian scientist. He was awarded the fourth-highest civilian award, the

Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

, for Science and Engineering in 2010. From 2003 to 2013 he was president of Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) in

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

, India.

Education and personal life

Rao obtained his Bachelor of Science degree in 1966 and Master's of Science degree in 1968 from

Bangalore University Bangalore University (BU) is a public state university in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. The university is a part of the Association of Indian Universities (AIU), Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) and affiliated by University Gra ...

. He received his Ph.D. in

biochemistry Biochemistry, or biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology, a ...

from the

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

(IISc),

in 1973. Former IISc Director Govindarajan Padmanabhan was his doctoral advisor at the Department of Biochemistry. From 1974 to 1976 he was an assistant professor at

Baylor College of Medicine The Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) is a private medical school in Houston, Texas, United States. Originally as the Baylor University College of Medicine from 1903 to 1969, the college became independent with the current name and has been se ...

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, Texas, where he performed his

postdoctoral research A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). Postdocs most commonly, but not always, have a temporary acade ...

. He later returned to India and joined the Department of Biochemistry at IISc as a faculty. Rao was an honorary professor at Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), Bangalore and was actively running its

Chromatin Chromatin is a complex of DNA and protein found in eukaryote, eukaryotic cells. The primary function is to package long DNA molecules into more compact, denser structures. This prevents the strands from becoming tangled and also plays important r ...

Biology laboratory until his death. He has been credited as the first scientist to initiate Chromatin Biology research in

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 ...

. During his research career, his lab at IISc and JNCASR, has mentored many Ph.D. students,

postdoctoral A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). Postdocs most commonly, but not always, have a temporary acade ...

fellows, and research trainees. Rao was married to Padma S. Rao with whom he had two sons. Rao passed away on 13 August 2023, at the age of 75.

Professional life

After his

and assistant professorship at Baylor College of Medicine, he returned to India in 1978 and joined the IISc's Department of Biochemistry as an assistant professor. He was promoted to associate professor in 1987 and professor in 1991. He was the chairman of IISc's Centre for Genetic Engineering from 1990 to 1993. On several occasions, he served as a visiting professor at

(1983, 1986),

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is the third oldest medical school in the Un ...

(1988–1990, 1993),

Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Ludwig Cancer Research is an international community of scientists focused on cancer research, with the goal of preventing and controlling cancer. It encompasses the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, an international non-profit organization ...

, and

University of California at San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Sc ...

(1998). In 2003, he was appointed chair and president of Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR),

. He was the chairperson of IISc's Department of Biochemistry (1998–2003) and Molecular Biology and Genetics Unit from 2005 to 2009. He served as president of the Society of Biological Chemists (India) for two terms between 2000 and 2004. Rao was a governing body member and scientific advisor to several research institutes in India. He was a former chairman of the Board of Governors of

Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Thiruvananthapuram Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Vithura, Thiruvananthapuram (IISER Thiruvananthapuram or IISER-TVM) is an autonomous public university located in Vithura, Kerala, India. The institute is one of the seven Indian Institutes of S ...

, Kerala. He was a member of the Board of Governors of

Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Kolkata (known as IISERK or IISER KOLKATA) is an public autonomous research institute in science and education field located in Mohanpur near the town of Kalyani in Nadia, West Bengal, Ind ...

; chairman of the Research Council of Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Kolkata; and member of the Selection/Search Committee of CSIR Directors. Rao served as a chairperson or subject matter expert for several scientific councils and academies, such as Department of Science and Technology;

Department of Biotechnology The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) is an Indian government department, under the Ministry of Science and Technology responsible for administrating development and commercialisation in the field of modern biology and biotechnology in India. ...

;

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR; IAST: ''vaigyanik tathā audyogik anusandhāna pariṣada'') is a research and development (R&D) organisation in India to promote scientific, industrial and economic growth. Headquarter ...

;

Indian Council of Medical Research The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the apex body in India for the formulation, coordination and promotion of biomedical research, is one of the oldest and largest medical research bodies in the world. The ICMR is funded by the Gove ...

;

Indian Academy of Sciences The Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore was founded by Indian Physicist and List of Nobel laureates, Nobel Laureate Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman, C. V. Raman, and was registered as a society on 27 April 1934. Inaugurated on 31 July 1934, it ...

; National Academy of Sciences, India;

Indian National Science Academy The Indian National Science Academy (INSA) is a national academy in New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three b ...

;

Third World Academy of Sciences The World Academy of Sciences for the advancement of science in developing countries (TWAS) is a merit-based science academy established for developing countries, uniting more than 1,400 scientists in some 100 countries. Its principal aim is t ...

; and science policy-making committees in

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

organisations, institutions and universities. He was the chairperson for the Task Force on Human Genetics & Genome Analysis at the Department of Biotechnology, India. He was also a member of the governing body of the Institute of Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology, Bangalore. He served as a member of the academic council of Poornaprajna Institute of Scientific Research, Bangalore. In 2010, Rao was appointed a member of the National Science and Engineering Research Board, which supports innovation, research and development in various sciences in India. Rao was on the editorial board of several peer-reviewed journals, including as senior member on the editorial board of the American Journal of Cancer Research (AJCR).

Publications

Rao was a scientific researcher and author of many peer-reviewed and oft-cited international journal articles. Most of his research work had been focused on

biology and Cancer biology. , his 1993 publication on

colon cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel ...

, published in

Cell (journal) ''Cell'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal publishing research papers across a broad range of disciplines within the life sciences. Areas covered include molecular biology, cell biology, systems biology, stem cells, developmental biology, ...

, has been cited over 3700 times.

Awards and recognitions

Rao had received several medals, awards and fellowships both in India and abroad. He was awarded the

in 2010 for his contribution to Science and Engineering. He received the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology in 1988 from the

(CSIR), the Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Centenary Award from the

in 2005, the Jawaharlal Nehru Birth Centenary Lecture award from the

(INSA), the FICCI Award, the J. C. Bose Medal of INSA, a

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The foundation was created by Standard Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller (" ...

Biotechnology Fellowship, the Om Prakash Bhasin Award, the

(TWAS) Medal Lecture Award 2008, the

Ranbaxy Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited was an Indian multinational pharmaceutical company that was incorporated in India in 1961 and remained an entity until 2014. The company went public in 1973. Ownership of Ranbaxy changed twice over the course of its ...

Science Foundation Award for Basic Medical Sciences, and the Sir M. Visveswaraiah Senior Scientist State award from the

Government of Karnataka The Government of Karnataka, abbreviated as GoK or GoKA, formerly known as Government of Mysore (1956–1974), is a democratically elected state body with the governor as the ceremonial head to govern the Southwest Indian state of Karnataka ...

. He received the Prof. N. Appaji Rao Best Mentor Award in 2011, an award given by the Indian Institute of Science Alumni Association (IIScAA), Bangalore. Rao was a fellow of the

(IAS), Bangalore; the

(INSA), Delhi; the National Academy of Sciences, India (NASI),

Allahabad Prayagraj (, ; ISO 15919, ISO: ), formerly and colloquially known as Allahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi, Varanasi (Benar ...

; the National Academy of Medical Sciences (FAMS), India; the Third World Academy of Science (TWAS), Trieste, Italy; the

American Society for Cell Biology The American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) is a professional society that was founded in 1960.American Society for Microbiology The American Society for Microbiology (ASM), originally the Society of American Bacteriologists, is a professional organization for scientists who study viruses, bacteria, fungi, algae, and protozoa as well as other aspects of microbiology. It wa ...

, the

American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) is a learned society that was founded on December 26, 1906, at a meeting organized by John Jacob Abel (Johns Hopkins University). The roots of the society were in the American Ph ...

, and the

Human Genome Organization The Human Genome Organisation (HUGO) is a non-profit organization founded in 1988. HUGO represents an international coordinating scientific body in response to initiatives such as the Human Genome Project. HUGO has four active committees, includ ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rao, M. R. S. 1948 births 2023 deaths Recipients of the Padma Shri in science & engineering Recipients of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology Bangalore University alumni Indian Institute of Science alumni Academic staff of the Indian Institute of Science Scientists from Bengaluru Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy Fellows of the Indian Academy of Sciences Fellows of the National Academy of Sciences, India Fellows of the National Academy of Medical Sciences 20th-century Indian chemists Scientists from Mysore Indian biochemists Recipients of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in Biological Science