Subhash Chandra Lakhotia

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Subhash Chandra Lakhotia was born on 4 October 1945 in Churu, a city near Thar desert in the Indian state of Rajasthan, to Dwarka Prasad-Suryakala couple.{{cite web | url=https://www.myheritage.com/names/chandra_lakhotia?lang=AR | title=Chandra Lakhotia | publisher=My Heritage | date=2016 | accessdate=4 October 2016}} He did his early schooling in Churu and then in Kolkata.

He graduated from Vidyasagar College of the Calcutta University in Zoology Honours in 1964 before obtaining his master's degree in Zoology and Comparative Anatomy in 1966, both from the Calcutta University. Continuing his doctoral studies at the same university at the Zoology Department, he secured his PhD in 1970. He did his post-doctoral studies at Delhi University during 1970–71 and started his career as a lecturer at Burdwan University in 1971. Moving to Gujarat University in June 1972, he stayed there until September 1976 before joining the Banaras Hindu University as a reader. He became a full professor in 1984 and continued there until superannuation in 2010. In between, he carried out some advanced studies at the Institute of Animal Genetics of the University of Edinburgh during 1972-73, at the University of California, Irvine during 1984-85 and at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge in 1985. After his formal superannuation, he continued his academic activities at the Banaras Hindu University as Emeritus Professor, INSA senior scientist from January 2017 to January 2019 and is now working as the life-long Distinguished Professor and SERB Distinguished Fellow.

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Lakhotia's research is focused on cytogenetics, gene expression, cell and developmental biology.{{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 | accessdate=28 September 2016 | pages=29}} He carried out pioneering research on Drosophila (fruit flies) with regards to its chromosome organization and replication, tissue-specific differences in expression of heat shock proteins, and discovery of Hsp60 in Drosophila. He has carried out life-time studies on the organization and functions of the 93D or the hsromega gene long-non-coding RNA locus of Drosophila melanogaster.https://www.ias.ac.in/article/fulltext/jbsc/036/03/0399-0423 {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}} During his doctoral studies on dosage compensation in Drosophila he further confirmed the hyperactive male-X model and elucidated its cellular autonomy.{{cite book|title=Advances in Genetics|url=https://archive.org/details/advancesingeneti0041unse|url-access=registration|date=4 May 1999|publisher=Academic Press|isbn=978-0-08-056826-3|pages=[https://archive.org/details/advancesingeneti0041unse/page/81 81]–}} His discovery of active transcription in heterochromatin in Drosophila in early 1970s was one of the first documentations of transcriptional activity of heterochromatin. His later studies revealed the existence of two distinct replicon types in different cell types of Drosophila.

He has been a pioneer researcher studying the long non-coding RNAs since 1980s and has contributed significantly to a wider appreciation of their function through sustained studies on the hsromega gene. His laboratory discovered the omega speckles{{cite journal |last1=Prasanth |first1=K.V. |last2=Rajendra |first2=T.K. |last3=Lal |first3=A.K. |last4=Lakhotia |first4=S.C. |year=2000 |title=Omega speckles - a novel class of nuclear speckles containing HNRNPS associated with noncoding HSR-omega RNA in Drosophila |url=http://jcs.biologists.org/content/113/19/3485 |journal=Journal of Cell Science |volume=113 |issue=19 |pages=3485–3497 |doi=10.1242/jcs.113.19.3485 |pmid=10984439|url-access=subscription }} in Drosophila nuclei and established essential functions of the lncRNAs produced by the hsromega gene in organization of the intra-nuclear omega speckles. His studies also helped identify how this lncRNA gene modulates apoptosis and neurodegeneration in Drosophila models of human diseases.

Since 2008, he established Drosophila as a good model to understand the mechanisms of actions of some of the ayurvedic formulations.{{Cite journal |last1=Dwivedi |first1=Vibha |last2=Anandan |first2=E. M. |last3=Mony |first3=Rajesh S. |last4=Muraleedharan |first4=T. S. |last5=Valiathan |first5=M. S. |last6=Mutsuddi |first6=Mousumi |last7=Lakhotia |first7=Subhash C. |year=2012 |title=In Vivo Effects of Traditional Ayurvedic Formulations in Drosophila melanogaster Model Relate with Therapeutic Applications |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=7 |issue=5 |pages=e37113 |bibcode=2012PLoSO...737113D |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0037113 |pmc=3351451 |pmid=22606337 |doi-access=free}} His studies indicate that the Ayurvedic Amalaki Rasayana and Rasa-Sindoor can substantially suppress neurodegeneration associated with polyQ and Alzheimer's disorders.

He has published more than 200 original research papers, review articles, and chapters in books, available at PubMed, an online repository of medical articles,{{cite web | url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Lakhotia%20SC%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=2517262 | title=Lakhotia on PubMed | publisher=PubMed | work=Author profile | date=2016 | accessdate=4 October 2016}} and at ResearchGate.{{cite web | url=https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Subhash_Lakhotia | title=Subhash Chandra Lakhotia on ResearchGate | date=2016 | accessdate=4 October 2016}} He has also written more than 100 articles relating to policies on higher education, research publications, their assessment and ethics.

He has mentored more than 35 scholars in their doctoral studies.

Lakhotia contributed to the establishment of the Department of Molecular and Human Genetics at the Banaras Hindu University and to the installation of the Confocal microscope facility at his department.

Besides his research contributions, Lakhotia is also well known for his many writings on education. He served as a member of one of the sub-committees of the National Knowledge Commission, participated in the Committee on Science Education of the International Council for Science (ICSU) in 2010 and was a member of its review panel.{{cite web | url=http://www.icsu.org/what-we-do/committees/science-education-review/?icsudocid=panel-members | title=Review Panel members | publisher=International Council for Science | date=2016 | accessdate=4 October 2016}} He was associated with the International Union of Biological Sciences, as a member of its executive committee from 2000 to 2003 and later as its vice president from 2003 to 2006.{{cite web | url=https://www.iubs.org/iubs/pastboards.html | title=IUBS boards | publisher=International Union of Biological Sciences | date=2016 | accessdate=4 October 2016}} He is a former member of the INSA council, a former vice president,{{cite web | url=http://insaindia.res.in/recent_past_office_bearers.php | title=Recent Past Vice-presidents | publisher=INSA | date=2016 | accessdate=4 October 2016 | archive-date=1 May 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210501055419/https://www.insaindia.res.in/recent_past_office_bearers.php | url-status=dead }} and vice president of its Inter-Academy Exchange Committee.{{cite web | url=http://insaindia.res.in/advisory.php | title=Inter-Academy Exchange Committee | publisher=INSA | date=2016 | accessdate=4 October 2016}} He was the editor-in-chief of its journal (Proceedings of the Indian National Science Academy) from January 2014 to December 2018. He has been associated with the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, University Grants Commission of India, Department of Atomic Energy, Department of Science and Technology and Department of Biotechnology as a member of their various committees, and has served or is continuing as a member of the editorial boards of journals such as Current Science, Journal of Biosciences, RNA Biology, Cell Stress and Chaperones and Annals of Neurosciences. He is a life member of the Indian Society of Cell Biology, Indian Society of Developmental Biology, Cell Stress Society International, Genetics Society of America and RNA Society.{{cite web | url=https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Subhash_Lakhotia/info | title=Subhash Chandra Lakhotia - Research experience | date=2016 | accessdate=4 October 2016}}

Lakhotia received the Young Scientists Medal of the Indian National Science Academy in 1975{{cite web | url=http://insaindia.res.in/youngmedal.php | title=Young Scientists Medal | publisher=Indian National Science Academy | date=2016 | accessdate=4 October 2016 | archive-date=11 May 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511084357/https://www.insaindia.res.in/youngmedal.php | url-status=dead }} and the Career Award in Sciences of the University Grants Commission of India (UGC) in 1979. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1989, the same year that he was selected as the National Lecturer by the UGC. The Commission honored him again in 1998 with the J.C. Bose Award, and he received INSA Sunder Lal Hora Medal in 2002.{{cite web | url=http://insaindia.res.in/recipients.php#56 | title=The Sunder Lal Hora Medal | publisher=INSA | date=2016 | accessdate=4 October 2016 | archive-date=16 September 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160916233840/http://insaindia.res.in/recipients.php#56 | url-status=dead }} The Banaras Hindu University gave him the 2007 Professor CNR Rao Education Foundation Award.

Lakhotia has held the Ramanna fellowship of the Department of Science and Technology from 2009 and the Raja Ramanna Fellowship of the Department of Atomic Energy from 2011. He held the Jawaharlal Nehru Birth Centenary Fellowship and the Senior Scientist position of the Indian National Science Academy in 2009. He was elected as a fellow by the Indian National Science Academy in 1993, by the Indian Academy of Sciences in 1994{{cite web | url=http://www.ias.ac.in/describe/fellow/Lakhotia,_Prof._Subhash_Chandra | title=Fellow profile - Indian Academy of Sciences | publisher=Indian Academy of Sciences | date=2016 | accessdate=30 September 2016}} and by the National Academy of Sciences, India in 2002.{{cite web | url=http://www.nasi.org.in/fellows.asp?RsFilter=L | title=NASI fellows | publisher=National Academy of Sciences, India | date=2016 | accessdate=3 October 2016 | archive-date=12 October 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201012031249/http://www.nasi.org.in/fellows.asp?RsFilter=L | url-status=dead }} He was awarded the Joy Gobind Law Memorial Medal ij 2022 by the Asiatic Society, Kolkata.

He has delivered several award lectures, including the 18th G.J.S. Rao Memorial Award Lecture of the Indian Institute of Science in 2011, the Arya Bhatta Medal lecture of the Indian National Science Academy (2018) {{Cite web |url=http://insaindia.res.in/detail/N93-1123 |title=INSA :: Indian Fellow Detail |access-date=14 April 2019 |archive-date=14 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190414014559/http://insaindia.res.in/detail/N93-1123 |url-status=dead }} and the IASTAM Zandu International (Indian Citizen) Award for Excellence in Field of Ayurveda and/or Natural Products Award 2019.http://www.iastamindia.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/28-III4IASTAMNewsletterMar-2019.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}} In 2019, he was awarded the SERB Distinguished Fellowship (2019).http://serb.gov.in/pdfs/Results/results%20DF.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}}

• Gene expression

{{portal|India|Biology}}

{{reflist|30em}}

• {{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGqwgcQJwhI | title=Higher Education in India | publisher=iBiology Magazine | work=YouTube video | date=9 November 2013 | accessdate=4 October 2016 | author=Subhash Lakhotia}}
• {{cite web | url=https://indiabioscience.org/columns/conversations/what-if-you-chose-o-ignore-if-impact-factor | title=What if you choose to ignore IF (impact factor)?| date=8 September 2017}}
• {{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBtc3EiUVvg | title=Eureka with Subhash Chandra Lakhotia | work=YouTube video| date=24 July 2017 }}
• {{cite web | url=https://soundcloud.com/syntalk/ttot-the-tricks-of-transmission-syntalk | title=The Tricks of Transmission | work=SynTalk Audio }}

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Category:Recipients of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in Biological Science

Category:1945 births

Category:People from Churu district

Category:20th-century Indian zoologists

Category:Cytogenetics

Category:Indian cell biologists

Category:University of Calcutta alumni

Category:Delhi University alumni

Category:University of California, Irvine alumni

Category:Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni

Category:Academic staff of the University of Burdwan

Category:Academic staff of Gujarat University

Category:Academic staff of Banaras Hindu University

Category:Fellows of the Indian Academy of Sciences

Category:Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy

Category:Fellows of the National Academy of Sciences, India

Category:Living people

Category:Scientists from Rajasthan