Dr Yellapragada Subbarao

“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.” - Doron Antrim, 1950

I think that aptly sums up Dr. Yellapragada Subbarao, one of the great Indian scientists of the modern era who was not given his due. Personally I came to know of Dr. Subbarao Garu, from my father who is a doctor himself. Later when I read up about him, was stunned about his work. This man was behind some of the most landmark medical discoveries of the 20th century, that saved countless lives.

If one were to compile a history of medicine, in the world, the name of Dr.Subbarao, would be standing right up there along with other greats like Alexander Fleming, Ronald Ross. He made some of the most significant discoveries in the field of medicine. Coincidentally Dr.Subbarao shares his birth date with that of Swami Vivekananda, January 12th, maybe greatness was in his destiny. And much like Swamiji, he made an impact in the US, though in a different field, different area.

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 behind it was none other than Dr. Yellapragada Subbarao himself. The tetracylines that combated the 1994 Surat plague were the result of his untiring efforts and in what was the centenary year of his birth, it was his own way of paying back to his own country.

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. Dr. Subbarao's wearing Khadi earned him the ire of his surgery professor M.C.Bradfield, at Madras, and he was given the lesser LMS degree, instead of the MBBS degree. In fact he was discriminated the same way at Harvard too.

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,It would be pertinent to note that Dr.Subbarao was allowed admission to Harvard Medical School as a “physician” and his qualifications were cited as a “chemist”. Fact is Indians were allowed then to immigrate to US only under these 2 categories. Even those Indians in US, who had all the legal requirements to become a citizen, were not allowed to become US citizens. Dr. Subbarao had to constantly live with the fear of getting deported back, even though he had a valid student visa.

Even at Harvard, Dr.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. Consider this Dr.Subbarao was not an MBBS, just a junior faculty member with a diploma at Harvard. Yet this man made some of the greatest medical discoveries of the 20th century. He was denied MBBS not due to his ability, but discrimination for being an Indian.

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. 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) . His work demonstrated the importance of phosphorous in our body, and also how to estimate the phosphorous content in living organisms.The Fiske-Subbarao method of estimating phosphorous is used to date by most biologists around the world.

Inspite of such sterling work, Harvard denied Dr.Subbarao a regular faculty position, and he 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 Subbarow, 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 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 Subbarow passed away at a very young age of 53.

It 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.In 1945, Dr. 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 him , it was a personal achievement too, he had seen two of his brothers fall prey to the disease.

“Do you know that methotrexate was discovered by an Indian?”

One of the most important anti cancer drugs methotrexate was synthesized again by Dr. Subbarao . This drug is primarily used for alleviating suffering from Burkitt’s Lymphoma. Apart from this, methotrexate is also used for childhood leukemia, many form of adult cancers, and to control rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis. It’s ironic that a man who has made such seminal discoveries in the world of medicine, saved lives rarely got recognition. The discovery of Hetrazan, went a long way in combating filariasis which now has been adopted by WHO as a key element of it’s campaign against elephantiasis. The world of medicine owes a debt of gratitude to this man.

Dr. Subbarao passed away in 1948 in the US , at a very young age of 53, just a year after India became independent. He was planning to come back to India, and had it been so, would have contributed even more. In effect he 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 deserves due recognition.

It is unfortunate that outside of the medical field, not many Indians know about Dr. Subbarao. A man who was on par with the likes of Fleming, Ronald Ross, never got much recognition in his own country. It's time we know more about such selfless souls like him.