Yellapragada Subbarao

Yellapragada Subbarao () (12 January 1895 – 9 August 1948) was an Indian biochemist who discovered the function of Adenosine Triphosphate as a energy source in the cell, and made important contributions to the treatment of cancer. Most of his career was spent in the United States. Despite his isolation of ATP, Subbarao was denied tenure at Harvard and remained an alien without a green card all his life, though he would lead some of America's most important medical research during World War II.

Early life and education

He was born to a Telugu Niyogi Brahmin family in Bhimavaram of the Old Madras Presidency, now in West Godavari District, Andhra Pradesh. He passed through a traumatic period in his schooling at Rajahmundry (due to the premature death of close relations by disease) and eventually matriculated in his third attempt from the Hindu High School, Madras. He passed the Intermediate Examination from the Presidency College and entered the Madras Medical College where his education was supported by friends and Kasturi Suryanarayana Murthy, whose daughter he later married. Following Gandhi's call to boycott British goods he started wearing khadi surgical dress; this...
Read More