I vaguely heard about this guy and I am sure that none of you would have either. But he is a scientist from India worth knowing about. He was actually good enough for Nobel Prize but not fortunate enough to get one.
I came to know more about him only when I read a post made by one of my cousins in Whatsapp. When I read it I felt guilty that I did not know about this outstanding man till now and read about him. It is unfortunate that our country does not even remember such people.
Subbarao (he used to write Subba Row) was born in 1895 at Bhimavaram. He had his schooling at Rajahmundry where he could not do well because of the death of some close relatives.
Later he moved to Madras (All of the present Andhra was under the Madras Presidency at that time) and finally got through his Matriculation only in the third attempt. After completing his Intermediate, he joined the Madras Medical College. His education was supported by friends and his would be father in law whose daughter he later married.
At the Medical college when Gandhi gave a call for boycott of British Goods Subbarao went to the surgery class and performed surgery in Khadi clothes. This enraged his British surgery professor and although Subbarao did well l in his written papers he was only given the LMS (Licentiate in Medicine and Surgery) certificate which is lower than MBBS. He tried to enter the Madras Medical Service but did not succeed. Subbarao got married to his distant cousin from Anaparthi.
Subbarao then took up a job as an anatomy lecturer in an Ayurvedic College at Madras. He was fascinated by the healing powers of Ayurvedic medicines and began research to put Ayurveda on a modern footing. While he was there an American doctor on a Rockefeller fellowship working on an anti hookworm campaign in India was impressed with him and encouraged Subba Rao to apply for the Harvard Tropical School of Medicine.
With the financial assistance from Malladi Satyalingam Naicker Charities at Kakinada as well as his father in law, he proceeded to pursue his studies in the US. He reached Boston in 1922.
As he only had LMS, he was not entitled for a scholarship or an internship. Initially one of his professors helped him with the fees and living expenses. Later he took up odd jobs in 2-3 shifts to keep him going. After completing his diploma from Harvard School of Tropical Medicine, Subbarao joined the Harvard as a junior faculty member.
Along with Cyrus Fiske, he developed a method for estimation of Phosphorous in body fluids and tissues. He then discovered the role of ATP (adenosine Triphosphate) in muscular activity. ATP is an energy carrying molecule which is found in all living things.
He was denied the post of a regular faculty at Harvard. He then obtained a PhD from Harvard in 1930 and worked at Harvard till 1940. As he was still refused a regular position at Harvard, he joined the Pharma company Lederle Laboratories as Director, Research in 1940.
At Lederle, he first discovered the antibiotic Polymyxins B and E. These antibiotics are toxic and are administered only used as a last resort when modern antibiotics are ineffective or contraindicated.
Vitamin B9 was discovered by Lucy Willis but it was isolated in pure crystalline form at Lederle which which enabled the world to determine its chemical structure. This happened under the guidance of Subbarao.
Then he went on to developed the anti cancer drug Methotrexate, one of the first cancer therapy agents and is still used worldwide.
He then developed Hetrazan, the cure for Filariasis which is currently the most widely used drug in the world for Filaria.
Under his guidance the world’s first Tetracycline ‘Aureomycin” was developed by Benjamin Duggar.
Subbarao also discovered Isonicotinic Acid Hydrazide, an effective cure for Tuberculosis.
He also extracted vitamin B12 from pig fat as a treatment for pernicious Anemia.
Subbarao was very low profile and had to be pushed onto the stage by a colleague or a collaborator to take a bow as each of his research is revealed to the public. He never gave any newspaper interviews nor went on tours.
George Hitchings, his associate at Harvard won the Nobel Prize in medicine in 1988, he stated that some of the works on nucleotides invented by Subba Rao had to be reinvented as his associate at Harvard Fiske suppressed his work out of jealousy.
Amazingly enough for most of his life he could not get a Green card from the US and could do so only in 1947 after completing 25 years there. Ironically he died the very next year 1948 of a massive heart attack aged 53.
The Herald Tribune bestowed on him a honor stating him as “One of the most eminent minds of the Century.” He did not get the Nobel Prize but his discoveries entitle him to be called the father of targeted cancer chemotherapy.
Subbarao touched numerous areas. He made lasting contributions to Biochemistry, Pharmacology, Microbiology, Oncology and Nutritional science.
It is unfortunate that he left no heirs to his brilliance. His only son died at 9 months of age.
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