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{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}
{{Use Indian English|date=April 2017}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Birendra Bijoy Biswas
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1928|3|1}}
| birth_place = [[West Bengal]], India
| death_date =
| death_place =
| residence = [[Kolkata]], West Bengal, India
| nationality = [[Indian nationality|Indian]]
| fields = Biochemistry
| workplaces = {{ublist | [[Banaras Hindu University]] | [[Bose Institute]] }}
| alma_mater = {{ublist | [[University of Calcutta]] | [[University of Texas at Austin]] | [[University of Pittsburgh]] }}
| doctoral_advisor = S. K. Roy
| doctoral_students =
| known_for = Molecular biology<br/>Genetic engineering
| awards = 1972 [[Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize]]<br/>1974 SBCI Srinivasaya Award<br/>[[University of Calcutta|UoC]] Distinguished Teacher Award<br/>2008 [[Indian National Science Academy|INSA]] P. C Mahalanobis Medal
}}
'''Birendra Bijoy Biswas''' (born 1928) is an Indian molecular biologist, geneticist and a former director of [[Bose Institute]], Calcutta.<ref name="Directors">{{cite web | url=http://boseinst.ernet.in/directors.html | title=Directors | publisher=Bose Institute | date=2016 | access-date=16 September 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160917005219/http://boseinst.ernet.in/directors.html | archive-date=17 September 2016 | url-status=dead | df=dmy-all }}</ref> He is known for his contributions to the metabolism of [[nucleic acid]] and the regulation of [[protein synthesis]] in plant cells.<ref name="IAS Fellows - B. B. Biswas">{{cite web | url=http://www.ias.ac.in/describe/fellow/Biswas,_Prof._Birendra_Bijoy | title=IAS Fellows - B. B. Biswas | publisher=Indian Academy of Sciences | date=2016 | accessdate=16 September 2016}}</ref> He is an elected fellow of the [[Indian Academy of Sciences]] and the [[Indian National Science Academy]].<ref name="Deceased fellow - B. B. Biswas">{{cite web | url=http://insaindia.res.in/detail.php?id=N78-0104 | title=INSA fellow - B. B. Biswas | publisher=Indian National Science Academy | date=2016 | accessdate=16 September 2016}}</ref> The [[Council of Scientific and Industrial Research]], the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the [[Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology]], one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1972, for his contributions to biological sciences.<ref name="View Bhatnagar Awardees">{{cite web | url=http://ssbprize.gov.in/Content/AwardeeList.aspx | title=View Bhatnagar Awardees | publisher=Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize | date=2016 | accessdate=4 September 2016}}</ref>

== Biography ==
[[File:Bose Institute - Kolkata 7354.JPG|thumb|235px|Bose Institute]]
An alumnus of the [[University of Calcutta]],<ref name="Our Alumni">{{cite web | url=http://botany.caluniv.in/alumni/valum.asp | title=Our Alumni | publisher=Department of Botany, Calcutta University | date=2016 | accessdate=16 September 2016}}</ref> Biswas secured his graduate (BSc) and master's (MSc) degrees in botany from the university and started his career as a research assistant at [[Banaras Hindu University]] (BHU) in 1952. He was working as a lecturer at BHU when he moved to [[Bose Institute]] in 1954.<ref name="Deceased fellow - B. B. Biswas" /> During his early years at Bose Institute, he continued his doctoral studies under S. K. Roy and secured his PhD from Calcutta University in 1957 after which moved to the US for post doctoral research. There, he worked at [[University of Texas at Austin]] under the guidance of [[Jack Myers (biologist)|Jack Myers]] and later at [[University of Pittsburgh]] under Richard Abrams. Returning to India in 1961, he resumed his service at Bose Institute as a lecturer and served the institution later as a director from 1985 to 1990.<ref name="Directors" />

== Legacy ==
At Bose Institute, Biswas pioneered the study of molecular biology and introduced the use of radioactive compounds in the investigation of metabolic pathways in 1954.<ref name="Deceased fellow - B. B. Biswas" /> While in the US, he was successful in identifying the [[RNA polymerase]] associated with the transcription and [[methylation]] processes of [[Ribonucleic acid]] in 1961. He is reported to have proposed a metabolic cycle which assisted in identifying four new enzymes and using one of those enzymes, he established that "a specific phosphoryl group could be transferred from IP6 to ADP synthezing ATP", a new pathway for [[ATP generation]]. He also proposed a protocol for the management of [[amoebiasis]], through [[calcium homeostasis]] of ''[[Entamoeba histolytica]]'' mediated by [[myoinositol]] phosphate.

Biswas' work is known to have explained the formation and germination of seeds by elucidating the ''metabolic cycle involving glucose-6-P and myoinositol phosphates''.<ref name="Handbook of Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize Winners">{{cite web | url=http://www.csirhrdg.res.in/ssb.pdf | title=Handbook of Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize Winners | publisher=Council of Scientific and Industrial Research | date=1999 | access-date=15 September 2016 | pages=29 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304043957/http://www.csirhrdg.res.in/ssb.pdf | archive-date=4 March 2016 | url-status=dead }}</ref> His researches assisted in advancing the studies of transcription process in higher organisms. In order to further his studies, he founded a department for biochemistry and, later, established a ''Bioinformatics Centre'' at Bose Institute. There, he mentored 30 scholars in their doctoral studies and organized several science seminars.<ref name="Burma2011">{{cite book|author=D. P. Burma|title=From Physiology and Chemistry to Biochemistry|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4CaQ3-x3LXMC&pg=PA283|year=2011|publisher=Pearson Education India|isbn=978-81-317-3220-5|pages=283–}}</ref> He also served as a member of the editorial board of the ''Indian Journal of Biochemistry & Biophysics'', a [[National Institute of Science Communication and Information Resources]] ([[Council of Scientific and Industrial Research]]) publication.<ref name="Deceased fellow - B. B. Biswas" /> He has published several articles and books, detailing his research findings;<ref>{{cite book|title=Progress in Nucleic Acid Research and Molecular Biology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tLmngRoZcF0C&pg=PA181|date=16 June 1975|publisher=Academic Press|isbn=978-0-08-086303-0|pages=181–}}</ref><ref name="Search results for: B B Biswas">{{cite web | url=http://www.kingsbookstore.ca/?q=h.ts&tsf=y&or_qs=B%20B%20Biswas&or_opt=au | title=Search results for: B B Biswas | publisher=Kings Book Store | date=2016 | accessdate=16 September 2016}}</ref> ''Plant-Microbe Interactions'',<ref name="Plant-Microbe Interactions">{{cite book | title=Plant-Microbe Interactions | publisher=Springer |author1=B. B. Biswas |author2=H. K. Das | year=1998 | pages=440}}</ref> ''Myo-Inositol phosphates, Phosphoinositides, and Signal Transduction'',<ref name="BiswasBiswas1996">{{cite book|author1=B. B. Biswas|author2=Susweta Biswas|title=myo-Inositol phosphates, phosphoinositides, and signal transduction|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=64AMAQAAMAAJ|year=1996|publisher=Plenum Press|isbn=978-0-306-45221-5}}</ref> ''Proteins: Structure, Function, and Engineering'',<ref name="BiswasRoy2013">{{cite book|author1=B.B. Biswas|author2=Siddhartha Roy|title=Proteins: Structure, Function, and Engineering|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hwYHCAAAQBAJ|date=29 June 2013|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-1-4899-1727-0}}</ref> ''Plant Genetic Engineering'',<ref name="BiswasHarris2013">{{cite book|author1=B.B. Biswas|author2=J. Robin Harris|title=Plant Genetic Engineering|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4QzaBwAAQBAJ|date=11 November 2013|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-1-4613-9365-8}}</ref> ''Control of Transcription'',<ref name="Biswas2012">{{cite book|author=B. Biswas|title=Control of Transcription|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=59_iBwAAQBAJ|date=6 December 2012|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-1-4613-4529-9}}</ref> and ''Biology of Inositols and Phosphoinositides''<ref name="MajumderBiswas2006">{{cite book|author1=A. Lahiri Majumder|author2=B. B. Biswas|title=Biology of Inositols and Phosphoinositides|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vxoxBbmiLQUC|date=3 October 2006|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-0-387-27600-7}}</ref> are some of the notable ones.

== Awards and honors ==
The [[Council of Scientific and Industrial Research]] awarded Biswas the [[Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize]], one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1972.<ref name="Brief Profile of the Awardee">{{cite web | url=http://ssbprize.gov.in/content/Detail.aspx?AID=410 | title=Brief Profile of the Awardee | publisher=Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize | date=2016 | accessdate=15 September 2016}}</ref> The Society of Biological Chemists, a science society affiliated to the [[Indian Institute of Science]], awarded him their Srinivasaya Award in 1974 and the [[Indian National Science Academy]] (INSA) elected him as their fellow in 1977; the academy would honor him again in 2008 with the P. C. Mahalanobis Medal in 2008.<ref name="Deceased fellow - B. B. Biswas" /> The [[Indian Academy of Sciences]] followed INSA in electing him as a fellow in 1978<ref name="IAS Fellows - B. B. Biswas" /> and he was selected by the [[University Grants Commission (India)|University Grants Commission]] as a National Lecturer in 1986. The [[University of Calcutta]] awarded him the Distinguished Teacher Award and followed it up with the degree of Doctor of Science ([[honoris causa]]) in 2001.<ref name="Deceased fellow - B. B. Biswas" />

== Selected bibliography ==
* {{cite journal | title=RNA Stimulated by Indole Acetic Acid |author1=H. Mondal |author2=R. K. Mandal |author3=B. B. Biswas | journal=Nature New Biology | date=22 November 1972 | volume=240 |issue=99 | pages=111–113 | doi=10.1038/newbio240111a0|pmid=4509022 }}
* {{cite journal | title=Kinetic and thermodynamic analysis of taxol-induced polymerization of purified tubulin |author1=Goutam Ghosh Choudhury |author2=Bhabatarak Bhattacharyya |author2-link=Bhabatarak Bhattacharyya |author3=Birendra Bijoy Biswas | journal=Biochemistry and Cell Biology | year=1987 | volume=65 | issue=6 | pages=558–564 | doi=10.1139/o87-072|pmid=2892503 }}
* {{cite book|author1=B. B. Biswas|author2=Susweta Biswas|title=myo-Inositol phosphates, phosphoinositides, and signal transduction|date=31 May 1996|publisher=Plenum Press|isbn=978-0-306-45221-5}}
* {{cite book | title=Plant-Microbe Interactions | publisher=Springer |author1=B. B. Biswas |author2=H. K. Das | year=1998 | pages=440}}
* {{cite book|author1=A. Lahiri Majumder|author2=B. B. Biswas|title=Biology of Inositols and Phosphoinositides|date=3 October 2006|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-0-387-27600-7}}
* {{cite book|author=B. Biswas|title=Control of Transcription|date=6 December 2012|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-1-4613-4529-9}}
* {{cite book|author1=B. B. Biswas|author2=Siddhartha Roy|title=Proteins: Structure, Function, and Engineering|date=29 June 2013|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-1-4899-1727-0}}
* {{cite book|author1=B. B. Biswas|author2=J. Robin Harris|title=Plant Genetic Engineering|date=11 November 2013|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-1-4613-9365-8}}

== See also ==
* [[Bose Institute]]
* [[Protein synthesis]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

{{SSBPST recipients in Biological Science}}
{{Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Laureates of West Bengal}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Biswas, Birendra Bijoy}}
[[Category:Recipients of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in Biological Science]]
[[Category:1928 births]]
[[Category:Scientists from Kolkata]]
[[Category:Bengali scientists]]
[[Category:University of Calcutta alumni]]
[[Category:Banaras Hindu University faculty]]
[[Category:University of Calcutta faculty]]
[[Category:University of Texas at Austin alumni]]
[[Category:University of Pittsburgh alumni]]
[[Category:Indian molecular biologists]]
[[Category:Indian geneticists]]
[[Category:Indian scientific authors]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Indian Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian biologists]]

Birendra Bijoy Biswas - Revision history

CleanupBot II at 19:46, 13 August 2023