People usually believe that great philosophers and extraordinary scientists were born only in parts of Europe and everywhere on the globe apart from the Indian subcontinent. This is a misconception. Many profound scientists have emerged in India and discovered fantastic components and come up with mind-blowing theories and unimaginable laws, but have been hidden behind the façade. A scientist named Yellapragada Subbarao was one such scientist. He had a spectacular mind of creativity and science.
Subbarao was born to a poor family in 1895. They were too poor to pay for his education yet he managed to get accepted to Madras Medical college with the help of local charities and funding. Later in his career, due to a chance meeting with an American doctor, Subbarao went to the U.S. to do doctoral studies at the Harvard School of Tropical Medicine.
He was a nationalist and followed Gandhi’s call for the Swadeshi Movement by wearing a khaki medical gown. This angered his professor M.C. Bradfield; hence, even though Subbharao scored well on his written exams he was denied his MBBS degree and had to accept a lesser LMS degree.
Due to the lack of a proper degree, Subbarao was unable to join the madras medical service and became an astronomy lecturer at Dr Lakshmipathi’s Ayurvedic College in Madras.
Subbarao developed an interest in Ayurveda and was forced by the American doctor to attend Harvard University for Tropical Medicine. Harvard did not approve of his work in Ayurveda and rejected him. He applied again in 1922 but withdrew to help his family when his brothers passed away from tropic Sprue. However, he did apply again the next year and this time he emphasized his anatomy training and finally got accepted.
His success came with his discovery of a method that helped estimating the phosphorus count in the body fluids and tissues. He developed this method with Cyrus Fiske; thus, they named the method the "Fiske-Subbarao Method''. This method is used by the majority of biologists worldwide. They also published a paper together called the "Journal of Biological Chemistry '' in 1925.
In 1930, Subbarao was the scientist who discovered the role and function of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in muscular activity and thought of one of the world’s earliest cancer treatments. This paved the way for Subbarao to edit textbooks and even compose some of his own. He earned his PhD the same year and became the first Indian to earn this degree at Harvard in Biochemistry.
Dr Yellapragada Subbarao passed away on August 9th, 1948, at the young age of 53.
Despite his many achievements, he has remained in the shadows. He has not received the well-deserved praise and recognition he deserves. Therefore, we should take a few minutes today and raise awareness of the great work of this phenomenal scientist.
Bibliography:
Shruti Patchigolla. "Dr Yellapragada Subbarao: The Miracle Man of Medicine | AtomsTalk." AtomsTalk. 5 Mar. 2021. Web. 18 Feb. 2022. <https://atomstalk.com/series/dr-yellapragada-subbarao/>
Levine Lawrence. "Indian scientists - Unsung Heroes of Indian Science – Part I." Caleidoscope | Indian Culture, Heritage. 27 Feb. 2014. Web. 18 Feb. 2022. <https://www.caleidoscope.in/caleidoscope-blog/unsung-heroes-of-indian-science-part-1>
N.a. "Yellapragada Subbarao Biography - Yellapragada Subbarao Profile, Childhood, Life, Timeline." Iloveindia.com. n.d. Web. 18 Feb. 2022. <https://www.iloveindia.com/indian-heroes/yellapragada-subbarao-biography.html>
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