Manju Ray was an Indian scientist specializing in Molecular Enzymology and Cancer Biochemistry. Her research has contributed significantly to the development of anticancer drugs and understanding the differentiation process of cells. Her interests include tumor biochemistry and molecular enzymology. She was awarded the

Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology Shanti or Shanthi may refer to: In Sanskrit * Inner peace, a state of being mentally and spiritually at peace, with enough knowledge and understanding to keep oneself strong in the face of discord or stress * Kshanti, one of the paramitas of B ...

in the year 1989, being only the second woman to receive this award in the category 'Biological Sciences'.

Education

Ray graduated from the prestigious

Science college Science Colleges were introduced in 2002 as part of the now defunct Specialist Schools Programme (abolished in 2011) in the United Kingdom. The system enabled secondary schools to specialise in certain fields, in this case, science and mathem ...

campus of

Calcutta University The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...

with degrees in M.Sc. in physiology in 1969 and PhD in biochemistry in 1975.

Research

Ray started her career in the Department of Biochemistry, Indian Association of Cultivation of Science. Since December 2010, she was an Emeritus Scientist at Bose Institute, Kolkata. Ray's research has focused on understanding the biological role of

methylglyoxal Methylglyoxal (MGO) is the organic compound with the formula CH3C(O)CHO. It is a reduced derivative of pyruvic acid. It is a reactive compound that is implicated in the biology of diabetes. Methylglyoxal is produced industrially by degradation ...

, a side-product of several

metabolic pathway In biochemistry, a metabolic pathway is a linked series of chemical reactions occurring within a cell (biology), cell. The reactants, products, and Metabolic intermediate, intermediates of an enzymatic reaction are known as metabolites, which are ...

s. Over the course of her career, she and her team have isolated, purified and characterized a series of enzymes involved in methylglyoxal

anabolism Anabolism () is the set of metabolic pathways that construct macromolecules like DNA or RNA from smaller units. These reactions require energy, known also as an Endergonic reaction, endergonic process. Anabolism is the building-up aspect of metabo ...

and

catabolism Catabolism () is the set of metabolic pathways that breaks down molecules into smaller units that are either oxidized to release energy or used in other anabolic reactions. Catabolism breaks down large molecules (such as polysaccharides, lipid ...

. Her work has also focused on studying anticancer properties of methylglyoxal, with positive results observed in the first phase of clinical trials.

Awards

* 1975:

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 ...

(INSA) Young Scientist Medal in Biological Science * 1989:

Biological Science Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, and distribution of ...

* 2003: Dr. I.C. Chopra Memorial Award * Dr. Jnan Chandra Ghosh Memorial Award

Publications

Ray has published a large number of scientific papers as lead author in association with others and some of which are: *''Inhibition of respiration of tumor cells by methyl glyoxal and protection of inhibition by lactaldehyde'' (1991) in

International Journal of Cancer The ''International Journal of Cancer'' is a biweekly peer-reviewed medical journal covering experimental and clinical cancer research. It publishes original research articles, mini reviews, short reports, and letters to the editor. The journal was ...

*''Inhibition of electron flow through complex I of the mitochondrial respiratory chain on Earlich Ascites Carsinoma cells by methyl Glyoxal'' (1994) in

Biochemical Journal The ''Biochemical Journal'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal which covers all aspects of biochemistry, as well as cell and molecular biology. It is published by Portland Press and was established in 1906. History The journal was established ...

*''Glyoxalase III from Escherichia coli a single novel enzyme for the conversion of methylglyoxal into D-lactate without reduced glutathione'' (1995) in

*''Methylglyoxal : From a putative intermediate of glucose breakdown to its role in understanding that excessive ATP formation in cells may lead to malignancy'' (1998) in

Current Science ''Current Science'' is an English-language peer-reviewed multidisciplinary scientific journal. It was established in 1932 and is published by the Current Science Association along with the Indian Academy of Sciences. According to the ''Journal Cit ...

*''Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase from Earlich Ascites Carcinoma cells: its possible role in the high glycolysis of malignant cells'' (1999) in

European Journal of Biochemistry ''The FEBS Journal'' is a biweekly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by John Wiley & Sons on behalf of the Federation of European Biochemical Societies. It covers research on all aspects of biochemistry, molecular biology, cell biology, an ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ray, Manju 21st-century Indian women scientists Indian women biochemists Bengali chemists 21st-century Indian biologists 20th-century Indian chemists 21st-century Indian chemists 20th-century Indian women scientists 1947 births 2021 deaths Recipients of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in Biological Science Women scientists from West Bengal