S Ranganathan after three decades of teaching and research at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, he has continued these activities with equal vigor, earlier at RRL, Trivandrum and now at IICT, Hyderabad, where he is a distinguished scientist. His current fascination is with chemical biology.

Anand Ranganathan is currently a research scientist at the International Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Delhi. Modular assembly of cyclic macrolides and emerging challenges in TB syndrome are his major research interests.

In the annals of science, rarely if ever, has any molecule captured the imagination of mankind as DNA. Within five decades of the discovery, DNA structure has been able to disseminate knowledge of key aspects related to life. From grade levels to research studies, DNA is described, examined and analyzed from diverse vantages that extend from the simple double helix to the correlation of this structure with hundreds of properties that ensue from this unique arrangement. The overt structure of the DNA double helix is very deceptive. Although constructed from fewer modular blocks compared to proteins and enzymes, this simplification has been more than compensated by the exceptional versatility of the DNA double helix. Thus, varied functions such as replication, transcription, recognition and intercalation – each describing a different pathway – are possible because of its magical flexibility. DNA is a maverick and a good host; its usual right-handed helix profile can change all the way to the left-handed double one, the entire spectrum with expenditure of minimum energy. Its major groove can play host to countless guests leading to recognition and the resulting biological functions; its minor groove can receive antibiotics initiating a cascade that protects our lives from microbial invasion; its horizontal gap is a beacon for suitable guests to snugly fit in and thereby initiate many critical operations.

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Address for Correspondence

Subramania Ranganathan
Discovery Laboratory
Indian Institute of Chemical Technology
Hyderabad 500 007, India.

Anand Ranganathan
International Center for Genetic Engineering
and Biotechnology
New Delhi 110 067, India.