Abstract
This is the story of a determined Indian who strived very hard and achieved greatness. He went to Harvard Medical School with very little money, braved many grave hardships and eventually fulfilled his ambitions to a large extent. Yellapragada SubbaRow did research in Harvard Medical School in biological chemistry and directed research at Lederle Laboratories, a pharmaceutical giant near New York. He played an important part in several historic and extraordinary discoveries made in biological chemistry and medicine during 1924–1948. Some of the important ones are phosphocreatine, adenosine triphosphate, vitamin B9, antifolate cancer drugs, filaricides and antibiotics. He made many personal sacrifices to accomplish what he wanted to. He received little recognition during his lifetime, but is now hailed as one of the most eminent medical minds of the century.
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C H Fiske and Y SubbaRow, J. Biol. Chem., Vol.66, pp.375–400, 1925.
G D Christian, Analytical Chemistry, 6th Ed., John-Wiley, pp.769–770, 2004; R Sood, Medical Laboratory Technology-Methods and Interpretations, 5th Ed., Jaypee, New Delhi, pp.450–452, 2003
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C H Fiske and Y SubbaRow, J. Biol. Chem., Vol.74, pp.22, 1927; C H Fiske and Y SubbaRow, J. Biol. Chem., Vol.81, pp.629–679, 1929.
C H Fiske and Y SubbaRow, Science, Vol.70, pp.381–382, 1929; K Lohmann, Naturwissenschaften, Vol.17, pp.624–625, 1929.
C W Waller, B L Hutchings, J H Mowat, E L R Stokstad, J H Boothe, R B Angier, J Semb and Y SubbaRow (Lederle Laboratories), D B Cosulich, M J Fahrenbach, M E Hultquist, E Kuh, E H Northey, D R Seeger, J P Sickels and J M Smith, Jr. (Calco Chemical Division of American Cyanamid Company), Ann. New York Acad. Sc., Vol.485(5), pp.283–287, 1946; H K Mitchell, E E Snell, and R J Williams, J. Am. Chem. Soc., Vol.63, pp.2284, 1941.
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B K Harned, R W Cunningham, M C Clark, R Cosgrove, C H Hine, W J McCauley, E Stokey, R E Vessey, N N Yuda and Y SubbaRow, Presentation at New York Academy of Science, New York, July 21, 1948; BM Duggar, Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci., Vol.51, pp.177–181, 1948.
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G Nagendrappa was a Professor of Organic Chemistry at Bangalore University, and Head of the Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Sri Ramachandra (Medical) University, Chennai. He is currently in Jain University, Bangalore. He continues to teach and do research. His work is in the area of organosilicon chemistry, synthetic and mechanistic organic chemistry, and claycatalysed organic reactions (Green Chemistry).
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Nagendrappa, G. Yellapragada SubbaRow. Reson 17, 538–557 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12045-012-0061-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12045-012-0061-4