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...
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