Vinod Bhakuni (24 May 1962 – 15 July 2011) was an Indian molecular biophysicist and the head of the Molecular and Structural Biology Division of the

Central Drug Research Institute Central Drug Research Institute is a multidisciplinary research laboratory in Lucknow, India, employing scientific personnel from various areas of biomedical sciences. History The Central Drug Research Institute was one of the first laborato ...

(CDRI). He was the founder of the Protein Chemistry laboratory of CDRI and was known for his contributions to the study of

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 ...

. A recipient of the

National Bioscience Award for Career Development The National Bio-science Award for Career Development or N-BIOS Prize is an Indian science award for recognizing excellence and promoting research in bio-sciences disciplines. It was instituted in 1999 by the Department of Biotechnology of the Gov ...

, he was an elected fellow of the

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 ...

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 ...

and the

National Academy of Sciences, India The National Academy of Sciences, India, also known as NASI, was established in 1930 and is the oldest science academy of India. It is located in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. Prof. Meghnad Saha was the founder president. Fellows * Suddhasatwa Bas ...

. The

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 ...

, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him 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 ...

, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 2006, for his contributions to biological sciences.

Biography

Vinod Bhakuni was born on 24 May 1962 in the Indian state of

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand (, ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2007), is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. The state is bordered by Himachal Pradesh to the n ...

, did his graduate and master's studies at the

University of Lucknow University of Lucknow (informally known as Lucknow University, and LU) is one of the oldest public state university based in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. LU's main campus is located at Badshah Bagh, University Road area of the city with a second ...

and joined

(CDRI) for his doctoral studies under the guidance of C. M. Gupta, a

Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Sir Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar (21 February 1894 – 1 January 1955) was an Indian colloid chemist, academic and scientific administrator. The first director-general of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Bhatnagar is revered ...

laureate. While pursuing the studies, he also taught at the institute till 1984 and after securing a PhD, he moved to

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

for his post-doctoral studies at Ernesto Freire's laboratory in 1989. Returning to India in 1992, he joined CDRI as a scientist at its Molecular and Structural Biology Division and spent his entire career there, reaching the position of the head of the division. Bhakuni was married to Neelam and the couple had a son, Abhyudai and a daughter, Harshita. The family lived in Lucknow and it was here he died, aged 49, on 15 July 2011 at

Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS) is a medical Institute under the State Legislature Act in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, south of Hazratganj on Raebareli Road. It was established in 1983 and is named after Sanja ...

where he had been admitted after suffering a heart attack.

Legacy

His researches have assisted in a wider understanding of the regulation of the functional activity of catalytic domains in proteins. He was known to have worked deeply on the

pathways and elucidated the folding patterns as well as the role of

8-Anilinonaphthalene-1-sulfonic acid 8-Anilinonaphthalene-1-sulfonic acid (ANS), also called 1-anilino-8-naphthalenesulfonate, is an organic compound containing both a sulfonic acid and an amine group. This compound is used as a fluorescent molecular probe. For example, ANS can be u ...

(ANS) in protein refolding. His group at CDRI is credited with the first demonstration of

stoichiometry Stoichiometry () is the relationships between the masses of reactants and Product (chemistry), products before, during, and following chemical reactions. Stoichiometry is based on the law of conservation of mass; the total mass of reactants must ...

of the cofactor in

serine hydroxymethyltransferase Serine hydroxymethyltransferase (SHMT) is a pyridoxal phosphate (PLP) Vitamin B6, (Vitamin B6) dependent enzyme () which plays an important role in cellular one-carbon pathways by catalyzing the reversible, simultaneous conversions of L-serine ...

(SHMT) of ''

Mycobacterium tuberculosis ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (M. tb), also known as Koch's bacillus, is a species of pathogenic bacteria in the family Mycobacteriaceae and the causative agent of tuberculosis. First discovered in 1882 by Robert Koch, ''M. tuberculosis'' ha ...

'' and were the pioneers in deciphering the mechanism of action of hyaluronate lyases (HLs) from ''

Streptococci ''Streptococcus'' is a genus of gram-positive spherical bacteria that belongs to the family Streptococcaceae, within the order Lactobacillales (lactic acid bacteria), in the phylum Bacillota. Cell division in streptococci occurs along a sing ...

'' and

bacteriophages A bacteriophage (), also known informally as a phage (), is a virus that infects and replicates within bacteria. The term is derived . Bacteriophages are composed of proteins that encapsulate a DNA or RNA genome, and may have structures tha ...

. He published his research findings by way of a number of articles published in peer-reviewed journals and many online article repositories have listed several of them. He mentored over 20 scholars in their doctoral researches and held one US patent for his work. His efforts were also reported in founding the protein chemistry laboratory at CDRI.

Awards and honors

During the early stages of his researches, the

awarded Bhakuni the CSIR Young Scientist Award in 1996; CSIR would again honor him a decade later with the

Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize 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 ...

, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 2006. He received the

of the

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. ...

in 2002 and the Raman Research Fellowship in 2003, the tenancy of the fellowship running during 2003–04. He was an elected fellow of three major Indian science academies,

(2004),

and the

(2008) and a recipient of the P. B. Rama Rao Award which he received in 2006. The Indian Society of Chemists and Biologists have instituted an annual award, ''Dr. Vinod Bhakuni Memorial ISCB Award'', for honoring research excellence in the fields of chemical and biological sciences and the Uttarakhand State Council for Science and Technology (UCOST) has named an auditorium, ''Dr. Vinod Bhakuni Memorial Hall'', in his honor.

Selected bibliography

* * * * *

References

External links