Question

Which of the following scientists discovered the drug for filariasis
(a)G.N.Ramachandran
(b)Y.Nayudamma
(c)S.N.Bose
(d)Y.Subba Rao

Answer 1

He studied at Harvard Medical School in biological chemistry. He made extraordinary discoveries made in biological chemistry like phosphocreatine, adenosine triphosphate, vitamin ${{B}_{9}}$, antifolate cancer drugs and antibiotics.

Complete answer:
Yellapragada SubbaRow synthesized and screened a large number of organic compounds. The search had a happy ending when he discovered diethylcarbamazine (DEC) in 1946, which was found to be effective against filariasis. It is still the most widely used drug in the treatment of filariasis and is recommended by the WHO. It is effective against both microfilariae and microfilariae parasites and is the drug of choice prescribed for most cases of filariasis. DEC came from Lederle Laboratories as a result of the hard work of the researchers guided by SubbaRow.

Additional Information: -Study in Ayurveda
-SubbaRow contemplated the possibility of obtaining potent drugs from Ayurvedic medicinal plants.
-Discovery of ATP, phosphorus and phosphocreatine
-SubbaRow produced a simple, accurate colourimetric method for the determination of inorganic as well as organic phosphorus, within a short period of time.
-They show that muscle filtrate was phosphocreatine having a phosphate group bound to a creatinine molecule and not just inorganic phosphate.
-They made a thorough investigation of its chemical and physical properties and showed that it hydrolyzed when muscles contracted and reformed when they relaxed.
-The discovery of phosphocreatine, SubbaRow’s method for analysis of phosphorus became the basis for isolation and identification of adenosine triphosphate.
-He demonstrated, as in the case of phosphocreatine, that one or two phosphate groups break away from ATP by hydrolysis during muscle contraction, which releases energy and results in the formation of adenosine diphosphate (ADP), or adenosine monophosphate (AMP). This is the energy that is used for driving biochemical reactions in living organisms.
-Discovery Folic acid and Folic acid
-SubbaRow and his group isolated folic acid from the liver extract as a part of the investigation to find the active principle in it, which was found to be effective in curing pernicious anaemia.
-Vitamin ${{B}_{9}}$, or folic acid, was isolated, its chemical identity was established by chemical degradation methods and then it was synthesized by SubbaRow and his colleagues.
-SubbaRow continued to work on other constituents of the liver extract and came very close to isolating vitamin ${{B}_{12}}$.

So, the correct answer is, ‘Y.Subba Rao.’

Note: -Ayurvedic practitioners possessed healing powers as good as, or probably even better than an allopathic medical practitioner.
-The Fiske–SubbaRow procedure is one of the popular methods used widely for the determination of phosphorus.
-Ironically, Fiske and SubbaRow did not get full credit for the ATP discovery. Instead, Karl Lohmann, a scientist working in the laboratory of Otto Meyerhof (1922 Nobel Laureate) in Germany, announced his similar findings.