M. M. Dhar, born on 13 January 1927, to Satyendra Mohan Dhar
C.I.E.,
I.C.S. and Ava Dhar
M.B.E. Dhar is a descendant of Maharaja Virendra V.M. Dar via father and Sir.
Krishna Govinda Gupta via mother. Dhar secured a PhD from
Manchester University in 1952 for his thesis on peptides and joined
Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI) where he worked as a deputy director, heading the Division of Medicinal Chemistry and Botany and subsequently, as the director of the institute. Thus, he discovered the glycosidase activity of
decapeptides,
abortifacient properties of
tetrapeptide, receptor mimicking of
acetylcholines and
immunostimulant and
immunosuppressant qualities of
compounds that target opioid receptors. He was known to have screened over three thousand indigenous plant species for studying their structures and through his researches, he suggested that the secondary metabolites of microbial origin were formed during the detoxification of toxic constituent of the microorganism. He identified several active ingredients in plants and developed a new method of synthesis of internucleotide bond, using
pyrimidine and purine anhydronucleosides. He was also a part of the CDRI investigation on parasitic protozoa causing diseases such as
amoebiasis,
leishmaniasis,
filariasis,
malaria and
helminthiasis. Dhar published his research findings in a number of articles and his works have been quoted by many scholars. He was associated with
Bombay Natural History Society and
Indian Chemical Society as a life member and sat in the council of Indian National Science Academy from 1988 to 1990. A former chair (1982) of the Commonwealth Agricultural Bureau International, he served as the commissioner of India chapter of the
International Whaling Commission in 1982 and was a member of the Indian delegation to United Nations Vienna Conference on S&T for Development in 1979,
Man and the Biosphere Programme conference held in Paris in 1979,
World Climate Conference of Geneva in 1979 and the Heads of Science meeting of
Group of 77 in Delhi in 1982. M. M. Dhar died on 26 May 2003 at the age of 76. == Awards and honours ==