Dr P M Barghava,
the father of Indian
modern biology,
passes away
Dr Pushpa Mithra
Bhargava, the
Founding Director of
the Hyderabad based
leading research
institute, Centre for
Cellular and Molecular
Biology (CCMB) and
widely regarded as the
architect of modern
biology in India, has
passed away after a
prolonged illness.
He breathed his last
on the afternoon of
August 01, 2017. Late
Dr Bhargava who
was 89 years old, has
been known for his
pioneering vision that
led to the foundation
of CCMB in 1977. He
has been an architect
of India’s early strides
into the modern
biology. Many of the
top scientists today
have been initially
mentored by him. yet he opposed the
way biotechnology
was used to further
commercial interests.
Born in Ajaymeru
in Rajasthan on 22
February 1928, Dr
Bhargava came from
a middle-class family.
When he was 10 years
old, his family shifted
to Varanasi. He was
formally admitted to
Besant Theosophical
School in Varanasi for
the first time at the
age of ten, directly into
class nine. “He was a thinker
who envisioned the
need for institutions
in India and in that
pursuit, created a
world class laboratory
in the India. He had
the maturity and
depth to think ahead
of times,” mentioned
Narayanan Suresh,
Chief Operating Officer
at the Association of
Biotechnology Led
Enterprises.
Eminent agricultural
scientist, Dr M S
Swaminathan had
once hailed honored
him as someone who
has always strived
to add ‘life to years’
rather than ‘years to
life’. Bhargava was
an unconventional
scientist. He
believed in doing
and promoting
world class biology
and biotechnology
research in India,
“Bhargava was an
unconventional
scientist. He
believed in doing
and promoting
world class biology
and biotechnology
research in India,
yet he opposed the
way biotechnology
was used to further
commercial interests,”
wrote well known
Journalist, Dinesh
Sharma.
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