Gursaran Talwar | |
|---|---|
| Born | Gursaran Prasad Talwar (1926-10-02)2 October 1926 (age 99) |
| Alma mater | Punjab University, Lahore (MSc) University of Paris (DSc) |
| Known for | Discovery ofMycobacterium indicus pranii Development of the first leprosy vaccine Immunocontraception |
| Awards | Legion of Honour (1991) Padma Bhusan (1992) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Biochemistry |
| Institutions | All India Institute of Medical Sciences National Institute of Immunology International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology |
| Doctoral advisor | Jacques Monod |
Gursaran Prasad[a] ("Pran")Talwar (born 2 October 1926[1]) is an Indian medical researcher who is known for developingvaccines andimmunocontraceptions.[2][3] His discovery of a unique strain of bacterium, eponymously namedMycobacterium indicus pranii (MIP) led to the development of the firstleprosy vaccine (commonly called MIP vaccine) in the world.[4] He is most popularly known for founding theNational Institute of Immunology, an autonomous research institute of the government of India, and the Talwar Foundation, a non-governmental organisation for continuing research in vaccines.[5]
Talwar was born inHissar (now a city inHaryana state, India). At an early age, his family moved toLahore (now capital of Pakistan), where he grew up and completed his school education. His original aim was to study medicine and become a physician, but his father suggested that he continued in basic science. He enrolled in the Government College, Lahore for BSc course.[6] The college was at the time affiliated underPunjab University, Lahore (becoming an independent university asGovernment College University, Lahore in 1997).[7] During his college days, Talwar was captain of the college rowing team and won all competitions he participated in,[6] the most notable being the Harper-Nelson-Manmohan Boating Race Competition of 1938.[8] After completing BSc with honours in chemistry, he entered the main Punjab University to study master's inchemical engineering.[6]
Talwar's first year in the university was at the time ofIndian independence for the British empire in 1947. The colonial India was separated into India and Pakistan, and the ensuing political and social turmoils in an event known aspartition of India prompted millions of Indians to flee from the new country and settled in mass refugee camps in Delhi.[9][10] It was from such a migrant camp that Talwar finished his final examinations and received MSc (Tech) degree from the Punjab University in 1948. In 1950, he received a scholarship for pursuing doctoral programmes in Europe, and chose France, as he later remarked, "because I had a leftist inclination …liberté, égalité, fraternité [the national motto of France]."[6]
Talwar joinedPasteur Institute in Paris and for the doctoral degree he enrolled in the Sorbonne (theUniversity of Paris). (Pasteur Institute does not award degrees and is affiliated with other universities for the degrees[11]). He was initially assigned tofermentation section to study on yeasts for making champagne. He did not like it, saying, "The first time that I tasted champagne, I wondered why it was so special. It had no taste. I was not interested." He was transferred to biochemistry section under the supervision ofJacques Monod, who later received theNobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1965.[6]
After receiving Doctor of Science degree from the Sorbonne, Talwar went to Germany as an Alexander von Humboldt Postdoctoral Fellow (from theAlexander von Humboldt Foundation) and worked at various universities including at Tübingen, Stuttgart and Munich.[12] In 1956, he came across an advertisement for the establishment ofAll India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi.[6] He joined as an associate professor of biochemistry (1956), and later became professor and head of the department till 1983. He was appointed Head of theIndian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)-World Health Organization (WHO) Research and Training Centre in Immunology for India and South East Asia between 1972 and 1991). In 1983, the government of India instituted the National Institute of Immunology (NII) appointing him as the founding director and retired from it as professor of eminence in 1994.[12]
Immediately upon retirement from government service, Talwar was appointed professor of eminence and senior consultant at theInternational Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), a project of theUnited Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) started in 1983. He worked there till 1999. Among honorary positions, Talwar was visiting professor atCollege de France (1991),Wellcome Professor atJohns Hopkins (1994–95), and distinguished professor at theInstitute of Bioinformatics and Biotechnology and then at theUniversity of Pune (2005–10).[12]
In 1982, Talwar founded an independent research organisation, the Talwar Research Foundation in New Delhi. TheDepartment of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) of India officially approved it as Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (SIRO). Similar to Pasteur Institute, the foundation conducts research, especially in vaccine development,[13][14] by which students can earn doctorates from affiliated universities.[15] In 2000, he became its director.[12]
In a 1994 paper,[16] his group demonstrated that women could be vaccinated to prevent pregnancy.[17]