The Hindu Business Line : Dr M.R. Das passes away

EMINENT molecular biologist and founder-director of the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB), Dr M.R. Das, died of cardiac arrest here on Tuesday evening. He was 65, and is survived by wife and two daughters.

Dr Das's team at the RGCB had made significant contributions to research into Hepatitis C virus, which was discovered in 1989. The evolvement of the technique known as the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) made it possible to detect virus present in very small amounts.

Since no information was available on Indian strains of hepatitis C virus even by 1991, Dr Das's group was invited to look into this problem by the Department of Biotechnology. His work demonstrated that the Indian strains showed variations from common Japanese or American strains.

After analysing genetic information available on the virus sequences internationally, Dr Das's group developed powerful reagents (primers), which can be used in PCR to detect the presence of Indian strains of the virus. This also provided a much less expensive and dependable option than conventional methods.

Dr Das had his early education at the University College here and moved to the Tata Institute of fundamental Research (TIFR) in Mumbai for his doctoral degree. He was also a visiting faculty at Columbia University and Cornell University. Back home, he made it to the level of a director-grade scientist at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad, before being invited to head the RGCB, a position which he held till he retired in 2002. He headed the Kerala State Committee on Science, Technology and Environment (STEC) as Chairman.

Dr Das was also member of the science committee chaired by Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam for the Tenth Five Year Plan. He served as the President of the Indian Society of Cell Biology as well as the Indian Association of Cancer Research.

The Chief Minister, Mr A. K. Antony, has expressed grief at the demise of Dr Das.

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