Thread by @SadaaShree

While we celebrate Jayanti of #SwamiVivekananda today, it's also Jayanti of another great person, not so well known.
. Yellapragada Subbarao, a genius who made some of the most outstanding discoveries in medicine on par with the likes of Dr. Alexander Fleming, Ronald Ross.

Dr. Subbarao was born on the same date as Swami Vivekananda, January 12th, in the coastal Andhra town of Bhimavaram. He would go on to make some of the most significant discoveries ever in medicine.

Remember the deadly plague that struck Surat in 1994, a 3rd generation tetracycline called Doxycycline helped in combating the plague epidemic, and controlling it. And the man who discovered that was none other than Dr. Subbarao.

The tetracylines were the effort of Dr.Subbarao's untiring efforts, and in what was the centenary year of his birth, it was his own way of paying back to his own country. A country he had left 1922 for the US, and where he did his work till 1948 when he passed away.

And yet, there was no stauncher nationalist than Dr. Subbarao, a devout Gandhian, who wore Khadi surgical dress in response to the Swadeshi call. An act, that earned the displeasure of his surgery professor M.C.Bradfield at Madras Medical College.

He was given the lesser LMS degree, instead of the MBBS degree, in spite of the fact that he was a brilliant student. It meant he could not enter the Madras Medical service, and had to settle for a job as an Anatomy lecturer at Dr.Lakshmipathi’s Ayurvedic College in Madras.

It was during his stint there, that he developed an interest in Ayurveda, and began to do a whole lot of research on that topic. Dr.Subbarao came from a humble background, his mother had to pawn her jewelery to get him educated.

It was the financial support from Kasturi Satyanarayana Murthy that enabled him to study, who later would also be his father in law. In 1923, his father in law once again supported him financially, when he was to leave to US for higher studies.

It would be pertinent to note however that Dr. Subba Rao , was allowed admission to Harvard Medical School as a “physician” and his qualifications were cited as a “chemist”. These were the two professions that were exempt from ban on immigration of Indians into US.

Even those Indians in US, who had all the legal requirements to become a citizen, were not allowed to become US citizens. Though he , could be able to get his 2 year old student visa extended, the fear of being deported back to India was always there.

During WWII, Subbarao had to carry an Alien Registration card around, report his address to every 3 months in Dept of Justice, Washington. In fact when he , was working on supervision of processing of blood albumin for supply to Navy, he had to get a special clearance in 1942.

Even at Harvard, Subbarao, got a position only as a junior faculty member after he finished his diploma there. But it was there along with Cyrus Fiske, that he made one of the most significant discoveries of our times.

During the 1920’s many scientists were trying to understand the chemical stores in our body, where energy was stored, and which the body draws upon, whenever needed.

To put it in more simpler terms, how exactly does the body store the energy we get from eating, and which we would be needing later on. It was Subbarao along with Fiske, who discovered phosphocreatine and adenosine triphosphate (ATP), two chemicals in our body, that store energy.

Whenever the body needs energy ATP is converted into ADP(adenosine diphosphate) while it gets replenished by phosphocreatine while the body rests. His work demonstrated the importance of phosphorous in our body, and also how to estimate the phosphorous content

The Fiske-SubbaRow method of estimating phosphorous is used to date by most biologists around the world. He now began to be quoted in most biochemistry publications around the world.

However when Harvard denied him a regular faculty position, Subbarao, left for Lederle Laboratories( now a part of Wyeth, owned by Pfizer) in 1940, where he did some of his most significant work.

It was at Lederle, that he, began to work on discovering antibiotics that had a wider range of cures than, the available pencilin and streptomycin.

This in a way led to discovery of polymyxin widely used even today in cattle-feed and aureomycin, the first of the various tetracyline antibiotics which all of us used at one time or other.

The tetracyline antibiotics played a major role in saving millions of patients, all over the world during the last century. . Aureomycin, the first tetracyline antibiotic discovered by Subbarow, was introduced in 1948, the same year he passed away at a very young age of 53.

Aureomycin was effective against both gram-positive and gram-negative germs, making it much more powerful than Pencilin or Streptomycin.

Another of 3rd generation tetracylines, doxycycline, was cleared as a preventive drug for malaria, and was used by UN Assistance Mission in East Timor.

In 1945, Subbarao along with his team at Lederle, synthesized Folic acid from liver and a microbial source, which would play a role in curing tropical sprue. For Subbarow, it was a personal achievement too, he had seen two of his brothers fall prey to the disease

This discovery was found to cure many anaemias, and in 1988, US Govt ordered all grain products to be enriched with folic acid to prevent spinal cord defects for newborns.

One of the most important anti cancer drugs methotrexate was synthesized again by Subbarow. This drug is primarily used for allievating suffering from Burkitt’s Lymphoma, and was one of the very first cancer chemotherapy agents

Apart from this, methotrexate is also used for childhood leukemia, many form of adult cancers, and to control rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis. Sadly the man who made such discoveries and saved so many lives never got due recognition.

During his tenure at Lederle, as Director of Research, another important discovery Subbarow made was on Hetrazan the cure for Filariasis. It was primarily the outcome of a project that aimed to protect US soldiers fighting during the War in the Pacific.

Filariasis was one of the most serious diseases during that time, that led to the deformity causing elephantiasis. Subbarow’s discovery of Hetrazan, went a long way in combating this disease, which now has been adopted by WHO in it's campaign.

Dr.Subbarao passed away on August 8, 1948, at a very young age of 53, a naturalized citizen of US, something he got after a long period of struggle. He had a lot more to offer to the medical world.

But as Doron Antrim observed in 1950-“You’ve probably never heard of Dr. Yellapragada Subbarao. Yet because he lived you may be alive and are well today. Because he lived you may live longer.”

In effect Dr. Subbarao was a true Karmayogi, one who did his work to the best of his ability and selflessly. A man who straddled two different worlds, an American citizen with an Indian heart.

A man who made some of the most seminal contributions to the field of medicine, and saved innumerable lives. Dr Yellapragada Subbarao, epitomized the saying Manava Sevaye Madhava Seva( Service to Humanity is service to God), #Naman to this great soul.

It is really sad that a person like Dr.Yellapragada Subbarao, who made such important discoveries in field of Medicine, helped in combating diseases like Filariasis, Sprue, has never really got the recognition due. A truly selfless person of whom we can be justly proud of.

My article on Dr.Yellapragada Subbarao, do check out and share.
historyunderyourfeet.wordpress.com/2015/01/12/dr-…

My podcast on Dr.Yellapragada Subbarao, do check out and share.
spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/TJX8Wc29vwb
gaana.com/song/dryellapr…

Sources
Article by Ashok Shenoy and Priyanka Kamath
researchgate.net/publication/27…

He is also mentioned in Siddartha Mukherjee's book The Emperor of All Maladies, about the fight against Cancer.
books.google.co.in/books?id=5rF_3…