Glyco-Forum section

Glycobiology vol. 7 no. 4 pp. v-ix, 1997
Glyco-Forum section
An outstanding scientist and a splendid human
being: Prof. Bimal Kumar Bachhawat
The glycobiology community has lost an outstanding scientist
and a noble soul who continuously strived for excellence and
inspired and nurtured generations of biologists in India. Professor Bimal Kumar Bachhawat passed away in a peaceful
manner on September 23, 1996. He was at the peak of his
activity and was undoubtedly the most loved scientist of this
era due to his extraordinary humility, warmth, simplicity, caring nature and accessibility.
Prof. Bachhawat was bom on August 26, 1925, at Calcutta
in a modest but large family of five brothers and three sisters.
All of his brothers rose to high academic and social positions
in the country. His tenacity and determination for education
can be gauged from the fact that he used to swim across the
river Hooglee to go to school. With a master's degree in applied chemistry from Calcutta University, Prof. Bachhawat obtained his Ph.D. degree in 1953 from the University of Illinois.
Subsequently he worked at the Department of Biological
Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, with Minor J.
Coon, where he discovered HMGCoA lyase, which was key to
the understanding of the formation of ketone bodies in mammals.1
In 1957 he returned to India and established an internationally recognized school in the area of neurochemistry and gly© Oxford University Press
cobiology at the Christian Medical College Hospital at Vellore
in Southern India. At that point of time, when understanding of
the structure and function of proteins and nucleic acid itself
was considered a great challenge, Prof. Bachhawat began his
studies on even more complex and difficult problems such as
glycolipids, glycosaminoglycans and glycoproteins vis a vis
neural development and neurological disorders. Nonetheless,
his efforts fructified within few years only when he and his
colleagues showed that the aberration behind the glycolipid
storage disease metachromaric leucodystrophy was due to the
absence of the enzyme Arylsulphatase A.2 Until then the molecular basis for about 50 glycolipid storage diseases had
eluded understanding. Soon this pathbreaking study set the
pace for the elucidation of the enzymatic defects in other glycoplipid storage diseases such as Gaucher's disease and TaySachs disease, which led not only to the development of their
prenatal diagnosis, but also strategies for treating such genetic
afflictions. His group also elucidated the mechanism of the
biosynthesis as well as the degradation of cerebroside-3sulfate, the lipid stored to abnormally high levels in the metachromatic leucodystrophy patients.3"6 Subsequently, his discovery of CMP-N-acetylneuraminic acid was an important step
toward defining the turnover of N-acetylneuraminic acid at
cell-surfaces.7 His discovery of the importance of glycosaminoglycans in neuronal development was also far ahead
of its time just as the elucidation of the role of glycolipids as
biological receptors was.8"14 In the exciting field of drug targeting Prof. Bachhawat pioneered sugar bearing liposomes as
molecular Trojan horses for the site-specific delivery of drugs
and enzymes to the diseased organs. During the last decade
he was involved intensely in the development of liposomal
formulations for treating systemic fungal infections which have
already benefited several human beings in India.16 His research
was respected widely, as is evident from the fact that he was
perhaps the most cited biologist from the country.
He was recipient of numerous award and honors, including
the Shanti Swamp Bhatnagar Award (1962), Golden Jubilee
Medal of the Indian Institute of Science (1976), Birla Smarak
Kosh (1986), and Federation of the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Award (1982). He was honored with
Padma Bhushan, one of the highest civilian awards in India, in
1990. He was elected to all the scientific and medical academies in India, and several of them conferred many honors and
medals over the years. He was the first Indian to be elected to
the presidentship of the Federation of Asian and Oceanian
Biochemists (1983-85) and had the rare distinction of leading
the Society of Biological Chemists twice as its president
(1970-72 and 1990-94). During the latter period of his presidentship, he was responsible for organizing the Congress of the
International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
with grandeur and great success during 1994. In addition he
had organized at least ten international conferences in India so
Glyco-Forum Section
that the younger scientists could have the opportunity to discuss
with acclaimed authorities of their field. He was also at the
forefront of formulating ethical and socioeconomic issues arising out of human genome studies and was busy organizing an
international symposium in New Delhi in February 24-27,
1997.
He was a great builder of institutions as is apparent from the
setting up of Neurochemistry laboratory 1957 at the Christian
Medical College Hospital, Vellore, the first of its kind in the
world, and the Department of Biochemistry at the University of
Delhi, and he was responsible for making the Indian Institute
of Chemical Biology, Calcutta, a leading center in the area of
contemporary biology in the country. Moreover, he nurtured a
large number of institutions in India and was untiring in his
efforts to support younger scientists. He was an inspiring researcher with a beautiful mind and an elephantine memory. He
would discuss with his colleagues daily about the latest development in science and aid in the development of their intellectual abilities. He was remarkably compassionate and composed, even during adversity. He could inspire his colleagues
beyond their expectations, even in the face of their experimental failures, for which almost always he would blame himself
for not anticipating them.
He helped, advised and encouraged younger scientists
throughout the country, and influenced and hastened the advent
of modem biological disciplines in the country. He had a very
informal and unorthodox style of administration, so much so
that anyone could meet him at any time and often obtain instant
help or solutions to their problems. He would become a youngster in the midst of young people and enjoy their jokes with
boisterous laughter. Similarly, he could also transform himself
into a serious and mature person in a group of older colleagues.
He took a great delight in entertaining and feeding his students
and friends.
Prof. Bachhawat was fond of Louis Pasteur's maxim "In the
field of experimentation chance favors only the prepared mind"
and the words of Frederick Gowland Hopkins, "The biochemist should remember that his data gain their full significance
only when he can relate them with the activities of the organism as a whole. He should be bold in bis experiments, but
cautious in his claims. His may not be the last word in the
description of life, but without his help the last word will never
be said."
It is indeed difficult to describe completely an outstanding
humanist like Prof. Buchhawat, but his warm, affectionate and
adoring nature—which knew no boundaries—will be missed in
abundant measure for a long time to come.
Prof. Bachhawat is survived by his wife, Mrs. Kamala,
daughters Kalpana and Kiran, and son Anand.
References
1. Enzymic cleavage of p-Hydroxy-f3-Methyl-Glutaryl coenzyme A 10 acetoacctate and acetyl coenzyme A.: Bachhawat,BK-, Robinson, W.M.G. and
Coon,MJ. (1995) /. BioL Chan. 216, 726-36.
2. Controlled study of enzyme activities in three human disorders of
glycolipid metabolism (gangoylism and metachromatic and globoid leukodystrophy): Austin,J.H., Balasubramanian.A.S., Partabiraman.T.N.,
Saraswati.S., BasuJD.K. and Bachhawat3JC. (1963) J. Neurochem. 10,
805-816.
3. Formation of cerebroside sulfate from 3'-phosphoadenosine5'phosphosulfate in sheep brain: Balasubramanian^A.S. and Bachhawat.B.K. (1965) Biochim. Biophys. Ada 106, 218-220.
4. Sulfate metabolism in brain: Balasubramanian,A.S. and Bachhawat,B.K.
(1970) Brain Res. 20, 341-360.
VI
5. Cerebroside sulfotransferase deficiency in a human disorder of myelin:
Bachhawat.B.K., AusinJA. and ArumstrongJD.C. (1967) Biochem. J.
104(4), 15C-17C.
6. Enzymic desulfation of cerebroside-3'-sulfate by chicken brain arylsulfatase: FarooquiAA. «nd Bachhawat,B.K. (1973) J. Neurochem. 23(3), 889891.
7. Enzymic degradation of cytidine 5'-monophosphate-N-acetylneuraminic
acid: Shoyabjvl. and Bachhawat^.K. (1967) Biochem. J. 102(2), 13C-14C.
8. Distribution and variation with age of different uronic acid-containing
mucopolysaccharide in brain: Singh,M. and Bachhawat3-K- (1965) /. Neurochem 12(6), 529-35.
9. Isolation and characterization of glycosaminoglycans in human brain of
different groups: Singh,M. and Bachhawal.B.K. (1968) J. Neurochem.
15(3), 249-58.
10. Isolation and characterization of glycosaminoglycans in peripheral nerve
and spinal cord of monkey: Chandrasekaran,E.V. and Bachhawat.B.K.
(1969) J. Neurochem. 16(11), 1529-32.
11. Interaction between lectin from Ricinus communis and liposome containing gangliosides: SuroIiaA, Bachhawat.B.K. and Podder.S.K. (1975) Nature 257(5529), 802-4.
12. The effect of lipid composition on liposome-lectin interaction: SuroliaA
and Bachhawat,B.K. (1978) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commus. 83, 779.
13. Concanavalin A-sepharose affinity chromatography. Glycoprotein nature
of brain acid hydrolases: Bishayee.S. and Bachhawat3K, (1974) Neurology
4(1), 48-56.
14. Specificity of carbohydrate-lectin recognition. Interaction of a lectin from
Ricinus communis beans with simple saccharides and Concanavalin A: Podder,S.K., SuroliaA and Bachhawat3.K. (1974) Eur. J. Biochem. 44(1),
151-60.
15. Design of Iiposomes for circumbenting reticuloendothelial cells:
Mumtaz^., GhoshJ\C. and BachhawatJ.K. (1991) Gtycobiology 1, 505510.
16. Effect of cholesterol in various liposomal compositions on the in vivo
toxicity therapeutic efficiency, and tissue distribution of amphotericin-B:
AhmadX. SarkarAK. and BachhawaUJ.K. (1990) BiotechnoL Appl Biochem. 12, 550-556.
Avadhesha Surolia
Professor of Biophysics
Molecular Biophysics Unit
Indian Institute of Science
Bangalore, India
Announcement
ISOBM International Workshop for
Monoclonal Antibodies Against Sialyl Lea and
Related Antigens
The International Society for Oncodevelopmental Biology and
Medicine (ISOBM) has initiated the Tissue Differentiation
(TD) Workshops as a follow-up to the successful Workshop on
Monoclonal Antibodies against CEA. The primary goal and
purpose of these workshops is to characterize the wide array of
monoclonal antibodies raised against molecules that have
shown potential as tumor markers.
The sialyl Le° antigen is the subject of the sixth workshop in
the series (TD-6), and this work will be presented at the
ISOBM meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, in September 1997.
The aim of this workshop is to fully characterize a broad panel
of anti-sialyl Le" and related antibodies, in order to determine
their relative value in assay systems for monitoring patient
disease in pancreatic, hepatobiliary and gastrointestinal cancer.