Manojit Mohan Dhar
| Manojit Mohan Dhar | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Born |
January 13, 1927 India |
| Died | May 26, 2003 (aged 76) |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Fields | |
| Institutions | |
| Alma mater | |
| Known for | Studies on peptides and synthesis of the internucleotide bond |
| Notable awards |
|
Manojit Mohan Dhar (1927–2003) was an Indian natural product chemist and the director of Central Drug Research Institute.[1] He was known for his researches on peptides and the synthesis of the internucleotide bond[2] and was an elected fellow of the Indian National Science Academy.[3] The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1971, for his contributions to chemical sciences.[4]
Biography
M. M. Dhar, born on 13 January 1927, secured a PhD from Manchester University in 1952 for his thesis on peptides and joined Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI) where he worked as a deputy director, heading the Division of Medicinal Chemistry and Botany and subsequently, as the director of the institute.[3] Later, he worked as the counselor of science to the High Commission of India to the United Kingdom. His researches were focused on the constituents of a number of indigenous plants and he studied their structures with a view to find their therapeutic uses.[5] Thus, he discovered the glycosidase activity of decapeptides, abortifacient properties of tetrapeptide, receptor mimicking of acetylcholines and immunostimulant and immunosuppressant qualities of compounds that target opioid receptors. He was known to have screened over three thousand indigenous plant species for studying their structures and through his researches, he suggested that the secondary metabolites of microbial origin were formed during the detoxification of toxic constituent of the microorganism. He identified several active ingredients in plants and developed a new method of synthesis of internucleotide bond, using pyrimidine and purine anhydronucleosides.[5] He discovered that the synthesis of quinomycin A could be catalyzed by a cell-free extract of streptomyces.[6] He was also a part of the CDRI investogation on parasitic protozoa causing diseases such as amoebiasis, leishmaniasis, filariasis, malaria and helminthiasis.[7]
Dhar published his research findings in a number of articles[8][note 1] and his works have been quoted by many scholars.[note 2] He was associated with Bombay Natural History Society and Indian Chemical Society as a life member and sat in the council of Indian National Science Academy from 1988 to 1990. A former chair (1982) of the Commonwealth Agricultural Bureau International, he served as the commissioner of India chapter of the International Whaling Commission in 1982 and was a member of the Indian delegation to United Nations Vienna Conference on S&T for Development in 1979, Man and the Biosphere Programme conference held in Paris in 1979, World Climate Conference of Geneva in 1979 and the Heads of Science meeting of Group of 77 in Delhi in 1982.[3]
M. M. Dhar died on 26 May 2003 at the age of 76.[2]
Awards and honors
The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research awarded Dhar the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1971[9] and the A. V. Mody Research Foundation Award reached him 1975.[3] In between, the Indian National Science Academy elected him as their fellow in 1973. The Central Drug Research Institute have instituted an annual award, Dr. M. M. Dhar Memorial Distinguished Career Achievement Award, for honoring excellence in research in chemical sciences.[10][11]
Citations
- Profiles of Drug Substances, Excipients and Related Methodology. Academic Press. 2 May 1975. pp. 425–. ISBN 978-0-08-086099-2.
- Michael F. Grundon (January 1976). The Alkaloids. Royal Society of Chemistry. pp. 166–. ISBN 978-0-85186-307-8.
- Bep Oliver-Bever (23 January 1986). Medicinal Plants in Tropical West Africa. Cambridge University Press. pp. 286–. ISBN 978-0-521-26815-8.
- Mahendra Rai; Deepak Acharya; José Luis Rios (1 February 2011). Ethnomedicinal Plants: Revitalizing of Traditional Knowledge of Herbs. CRC Press. pp. 240–. ISBN 978-1-4398-5362-7.
- S.W. Pelletier (22 October 2013). Alkaloids: Chemical and Biological Perspectives. Elsevier. pp. 153–. ISBN 978-1-4832-8784-3.
- E. J. Ariëns (21 January 2016). Drug Design: Medicinal Chemistry: A Series of Monographs. Elsevier. pp. 250–. ISBN 978-1-4832-1611-9.
Selected bibliography
- S. N., Bhattacharji S., DharM. M. Ghatak, ed. "CDRI Researches on Parasitic Protozoa". Parasitology: 643. doi:10.1017/S0031182000080288.
- N. A. Bailey, C. P. Falshaw, W. D. Ollis, M. Watanabe, M. M. Dhar, A. W. Khan, V. C. Vora (1968). "The constitution of resistomycin". Chem. Commun. (7): 374–376. doi:10.1039/C19680000374.
- Dhar ML, Dhar MM, Dhawan BN, Mehrotra BN, Ray C. (1968). "Screening of Indian plants for biological activity: I.". Indian J Exp Biol. 6 (4): 232–47. PMID 5720682.
- Bhakuni DS, Dhar ML, Dhar MM, Dhawan BN, Mehrotra BN. (1969). "Screening of Indian plants for biological activity. II". Indian J Exp Biol. 7 (4): 250–62. PMID 5359097.
- Bhakuni DS, Dhar ML, Dhar MM, Dhawan BN, Gupta B, Srimal RC. (1971). "Screening of Indian plants for biological activity. 3.". Indian J Exp Biol. 9 (1): 91–102. PMID 5089325.
- Dhar ML, Dhar MM, Dhawan BN, Mehrotra BN, Srimal RC, Tandon JS. (1973). "Screening of Indian plants for biological activity. IV". Indian J Exp Biol. 11 (1): 43–54. PMID 4779295.
- Jagat P.S. Sarin, Satyawan Singh, H.S. Garg, N.M. Khanna, M.M. Dhar (1976). "A flavonol glycoside with anticancer activity from Tephrosia candida". Phytochemistry. 15 (1): 232–234. doi:10.1016/S0031-9422(00)89101-3.
See also
Notes
References
- ↑ "Directors". Central Drug Research Institute. 2016.
- 1 2 "Brief Profile of the Awardee". Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize. 2016. Retrieved October 5, 2016.
- 1 2 3 4 "Deceased fellow". Indian National Science Academy. 2016. Retrieved November 5, 2016.
- ↑ "View Bhatnagar Awardees". Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize. 2016. Retrieved October 5, 2016.
- 1 2 "Handbook of Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize Winners" (PDF). Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. 1999. p. 34. Retrieved October 5, 2016.
- ↑ J. D. Bu'Lock (January 1977). Biosynthesis. Royal Society of Chemistry. pp. 288–. ISBN 978-0-85186-543-0.
- ↑ S. N., Bhattacharji S., DharM. M. Ghatak, ed. "CDRI Researches on Parasitic Protozoa". Parasitology: 643. doi:10.1017/S0031182000080288.
- ↑ "Items for Author "Dhar, M M"". Central Drug Research Institute. 2016.
- ↑ "Chemical Sciences". Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. 2016. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
- ↑ "India may get new anti-TB drug next month: DG ICMR". Times of India. February 17, 2016.
- ↑ "CDRI Students Awards" (PDF). Central Drug Research Institute. October 2016.