10. Darshan Ranganathan (1941 – 2001)

 

Darshan Ranganathan was a biochemist who made a name for herself in her field of research, largely through her own efforts, at a time when there was a general misconception that only men could succeed in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields in India.

Darshan was born on 4 June 1941 in Delhi to Vidyavati Marken and Shanti Swarup. Her  schooling and primary college education was in Delhi itself. She  did research under Dr. T. R. Seshadri from Delhi University and obtained her  Ph.D. degree. Due to Darshan's exceptional academic ability and efforts, she was awarded a Royal Commission Research Fellowship in England to undertake post-doctoral research at Imperial College, London. There, Darshan's research was under Professor D. H. R. Barton.

 

Her research in London focused mainly on organic materials, and in particular they attempted to elucidate the molecular structure of gum. But as the scarcity of gum in London made it difficult, her mother sent the required gum from India. Darshan met Dr. Subramaniam Ranganathan at a conference in 1970 when she got a teaching job at a college in Delhi University and before starting her studies in London. They got married before  long. Both joined the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. But there was no great difference between the two of them in terms of academic degree or other skills, but according to the unwritten rule of the institution, only the husband got appointment as a teacher there. Darshan had to work as a research fellow. The reason for this was the illusion that if husband and wife became teachers in the same department, there would be something wrong with the interests of the department. However, even though she fell behind in her work, she continued her research in organic chemistry at her own expense.

Following this, in 1993, Darshan continued to work at the Regional Research Laboratory in Thiruvananthapuram and then in 1998 at IICT, Hyderabad. She was the Deputy Director at the institute in Hyderabad. During this period, she began collaborating with Isabella Carley, a scientist at the US Naval Research Laboratory.

But she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1997 and passed away in 2001 on her 60th birthday. To refresh her memory, the “Professor Darshan Ranganathan Memorial Lecture” was initiated by her husband since 2001 as  a woman scientist who made extraordinary contributions to organic chemistry all her life.

Important benefits

Darshan was a Fellow of the National Science Academy. Other awards she has received include AV Rama Rao Foundation Award, Jawaharlal Nehru Birth Centenary Visiting Fellowship, Science Academy Award for Chemistry in the Third World. Sukhdev Endowment Invitation to Lecture.

Darshan was India's most eminent organic chemist at the time of her death. In the five years before her death, she published more than 12 research papers in the American Journal of Organic Chemistry. After her death, her Accounts of Organic Chemistry and several other publications were published.

She was posthumously recognized as a Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences and the Indian National Science Academy. She also received the Chemistry Award of the Third World Academy of Science in 1999.

Special Research Areas

Darshan Ranganathan's special research interest is in laboratory re-creation of natural biochemical products. In that effort, they were able to produce imidazole, histadine, and histamine, key components of the drug, in the laboratory. They also made a working version of the urea cycle. As a result of her efforts, she  became an expert in making a variety of proteins using certain types of nanostructures. She showed in the laboratory that we  can also make some self-made peptides.

reference

https://feminisminindia.com/2019//19/darshan-ranganathan-organic-chemistry/03