Perdur Radhakantha Adiga

Biography

P. R. Adiga, born on 5 May 1935 at Barkur, a small hamlet in Udupi district of the south Indian state of Karnataka as one among the ten children of his parents, did his early schooling at local schools and earned a master's degree in biochemistry from the University of Kerala in the neighboring state.[7] Subsequently, he joined the Indian Institute of Science as a research associate and pursued his doctoral studies under the guidance of P. S. Sarma, who headed the department of biochemistry, to secure the degree in 1963. He spent his entire career at IISc, holding various positions as that of an assistant professor, associate professor and professor. He also chaired the erstwhile Centre for Reproductive Biology and Molecular Endocrinology[note 3] at the institute.[5] Post retirement, he continued his association with IISc as an INSA Senior scientistAdiga's early researches were focused on the growth and intermediary metabolism of fungi and insects and how they were impacted by the trace elements and metal toxicity.[7] His work on Lathyrus sativus, commonly known as grass pea, revealed that N-oxalyl-diaminopropionic acid, a neurotoxin present in the plant caused the neurological disorder of neurolathyrism in humans.[7] He was also credited with the discovery of Homoarginine, an amino acid derivative, found in Lathyrus sativus.[5] Later, he worked on vitamin-carrying proteins which demonstrated how the proteins carried vitamins such as thiamin and riboflavin to the foetus and his experiments on rodents showed antibodies generated during pregnancy might cause its termination.[8] He documented his researches by way of several articles in peer-reviewed journals[9][note 4] and the online article repository of the Indian Academy of Sciences has listed 192 of them.[10] He edited the book, Perspectives in Primate Reproductive Biology[11] and contributed chapters to many books published by others;[12][13][14][15] his work has been cited by a number of authors and researchers.[16][17][18] He was also associated with two journals, Journal of Biosciences and Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology as a member of their editorial boards.[5] Adiga died on 13 September 2006, at the age of 71, survived by his wife and two daughters

Research Interest

Lathyrus sativus