Yellapragada Subbarow
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Yellapragada Subbarow
Indian Scientist
Born12 January 1895
Bhimavaram,[1] Andhra Pradesh,India
Died9 August 1948 (aged 53)New York, United States
NationalityIndian
FieldsMedicine
InstitutionsLederle Laboratories, a division ofAmerican Cyanamid (Acquired byWyeth in 1994, now Pfizer)
Alma mater
Madras Medical College
Harvard University
Known for
Discovery of the role ofPhosphocreatine
and Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) 
in muscular activity
Synthesis of Folic Acid
Synthesis of Methotrexate
Discovery of Diethylcarbamazine
Yellapragada Subbarow (12 January 1895 – 9 August 1948) was an Indian biochemist who discovered the function of adenosine triphosphate as an energy source in the cell, and developed methotrexate for the treatment of cancer. Most of his career was spent in the United States. Despite his isolation of ATP, Subbarow was denied tenure at Harvard[2] and remained without a green card throughout his life,[3] though he would lead some of America's most important medical research during World War II.
Career in America[edit]
After earning a diploma from the Harvard Medical School he joined Harvard as a junior faculty member. With Cyrus Fiske, he developed a method for the estimation of phosphorus in body fluids and tissues. He discovered the role of phosphocreatine and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in muscular activity, which earned him an entry into biochemistry textbooks in the 1930s. He obtained his Ph.D.degree the same year.
He joined Lederle Laboratories, a division of American Cyanamid (now a division of Wyeth which is owned by Pfizer), after he was denied a regular faculty position at Harvard. At Lederle, he developed a method to synthesize folic acid, Vitamin B9,[4] based on work by Lucy Wills to isolate folic acid as a protective agent against anemia. After his work on folic acid and with considerable input from Dr. Sidney Farber, he developed the important anti-cancer drug methotrexate - one of the very first cancer chemotherapy agents and still in widespread clinical use.[5][6][6][7] He also discovered[clarification needed] the drug Hetrazan which was used by the World health Organization against filariasis.[8] Under Subbarow, Benjamin Duggar made his discovery of the world's firsttetracycline antibiotic, aureomycin, in 1945. This discovery was made as a result of the largest distributed scientific experiment ever performed to that date, when American soldiers who had fought all over the world were instructed at the end of WWII to collect soil samples from wherever they were, and bring the samples back for screening at Lederle Laboratories for possible anti-bacterial agents produced by natural soil fungi.[3]
Recognition and delayed acknowledgement[edit]
The world's memory of Subbarow has been obscured by the achievements of others and his failure to promote his own interests. Part of the reason for his obscurity was that Subbarow did not market his work, or himself. A patent attorney was once astonished to find that he had not taken any of the steps that scientists everywhere consider routine for linking their name to their handiwork. He never granted interviews to the press; he never made the rounds of the academies which apportion accolades[citation needed]; nor did he go on lecture tours[citation needed].
His colleague, George Hitchings, who shared the 1988 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Gertrude Elion, said, "Some of the nucleotides isolated by Subbarow had to be rediscovered years later by other workers because Fiske, apparently out of jealousy, did not let Subbarow's contributions see the light of the day."[1]
A fungus was named Subbaromyces splendens in his honor by American Cyanamid.[9]
Writing in the April 1950 issue of Argosy, Doron K. Antrim observed,[10] "You've probably never heard of Dr. Yellapragada Subbarow. Yet because he lived you may be alive and are well today. Because he lived you may live longer."[11]
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Yellapragada Subbarow
Indian Scientist
Born12 January 1895
Bhimavaram,[1] Andhra Pradesh,India
Died9 August 1948 (aged 53)New York, United States
NationalityIndian
FieldsMedicine
InstitutionsLederle Laboratories, a division ofAmerican Cyanamid (Acquired byWyeth in 1994, now Pfizer)
Alma mater
Madras Medical College
Harvard University
Known for
Discovery of the role ofPhosphocreatine
and Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) in muscular activitySynthesis of Folic Acid
Synthesis of Methotrexate
Discovery of Diethylcarbamazine
Yellapragada Subbarow (12 January 1895 – 9 August 1948) was an Indian biochemist who discovered the function of adenosine triphosphate as an energy source in the cell, and developed methotrexate for the treatment of cancer. Most of his career was spent in the United States. Despite his isolation of ATP, Subbarow was denied tenure at Harvard[2] and remained without a green card throughout his life,[3] though he would lead some of America's most important medical research during World War II.
Career in America[edit]
After earning a diploma from the Harvard Medical School he joined Harvard as a junior faculty member. With Cyrus Fiske, he developed a method for the estimation of phosphorus in body fluids and tissues. He discovered the role of phosphocreatine and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in muscular activity, which earned him an entry into biochemistry textbooks in the 1930s. He obtained his Ph.D.degree the same year.
He joined Lederle Laboratories, a division of American Cyanamid (now a division of Wyeth which is owned by Pfizer), after he was denied a regular faculty position at Harvard. At Lederle, he developed a method to synthesize folic acid, Vitamin B9,[4] based on work by Lucy Wills to isolate folic acid as a protective agent against anemia. After his work on folic acid and with considerable input from Dr. Sidney Farber, he developed the important anti-cancer drug methotrexate - one of the very first cancer chemotherapy agents and still in widespread clinical use.[5][6][6][7] He also discovered[clarification needed] the drug Hetrazan which was used by the World health Organization against filariasis.[8] Under Subbarow, Benjamin Duggar made his discovery of the world's firsttetracycline antibiotic, aureomycin, in 1945. This discovery was made as a result of the largest distributed scientific experiment ever performed to that date, when American soldiers who had fought all over the world were instructed at the end of WWII to collect soil samples from wherever they were, and bring the samples back for screening at Lederle Laboratories for possible anti-bacterial agents produced by natural soil fungi.[3]
Recognition and delayed acknowledgement[edit]
The world's memory of Subbarow has been obscured by the achievements of others and his failure to promote his own interests. Part of the reason for his obscurity was that Subbarow did not market his work, or himself. A patent attorney was once astonished to find that he had not taken any of the steps that scientists everywhere consider routine for linking their name to their handiwork. He never granted interviews to the press; he never made the rounds of the academies which apportion accolades[citation needed]; nor did he go on lecture tours[citation needed].
His colleague, George Hitchings, who shared the 1988 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Gertrude Elion, said, "Some of the nucleotides isolated by Subbarow had to be rediscovered years later by other workers because Fiske, apparently out of jealousy, did not let Subbarow's contributions see the light of the day."[1]
A fungus was named Subbaromyces splendens in his honor by American Cyanamid.[9]
Writing in the April 1950 issue of Argosy, Doron K. Antrim observed,[10] "You've probably never heard of Dr. Yellapragada Subbarow. Yet because he lived you may be alive and are well today. Because he lived you may live longer."[11]
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