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{{short description|Indian geneticist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2018}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Sushil Kumar
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1940|12|14}}
| birth_place = [[Delhi]], India
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2021|5|2|1940|12|14}}<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.currentscience.ac.in/Volumes/121/08/1123.pdf |title=Sushil Kumar (1940–2021) |journal=[[Current Science]] |first=Manoj |last=Prasad |volume=121 |issue=8 |date=25 October 2021 |page=1123 |access-date=30 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230618112903/https://www.currentscience.ac.in/Volumes/121/08/1123.pdf |archive-date=18 June 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref>
| death_place = Delhi, India
| fields = {{ublist | [[Genetics]] }}
| workplaces = {{ublist | [[Indian Agricultural Research Institute]] | [[Council of Scientific and Industrial Research]] | [[National Botanical Research Institute]] | National Institute of Plant Genome Research | SKA Institution for Research, Education and Development }}
| alma_mater = {{ublist | [[University of Delhi]] | [[Indian Agricultural Research Institute]] | [[Indian Agricultural Research Institute]] | [[University of Toronto]] }}
| doctoral_advisor = A. T. Natarajan
| doctoral_students =
| known_for = Studies on [[Escherichia coli]] Transcription map of [[bacteriophage lambda]]
| awards = 1962 [[Indian Agricultural Research Institute|IARI]] Gold Medal 1965 ISGPB Genetics Medal 1981 [[Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize]] 1986 [[National Academy of Sciences, India|NASI]] Distinguished Scientist Award 2000 FICCI Award 2000 [[Om Prakash Bhasin Award]] 2002 [[Indian National Science Academy|INSA]] Shyam Bahadur Saksena Memorial Medal
}}

'''Sushil Kumar''' (14 December 1940 {{endash}} 2 May 2021) was an Indian geneticist and academic, known for his Plant and microbial genetical [[genomics]], especially the studies on [[Escherichia coli]] and [[Lambda phage]] as well as on the mutants of [[Rhizobium]].<ref name="Brief Profile of the Awardee">{{cite web | url=http://ssbprize.gov.in/Content/Detail.aspx?AID=163 | title=Brief Profile of the Awardee | publisher=Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize | date=2016 | accessdate=19 September 2016}}</ref> He was a former director of the Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants of the [[Council of Scientific and Industrial Research]] and an elected fellow of the [[Indian National Science Academy]], [[National Academy of Agricultural Sciences]], [[National Academy of Sciences, India]], and [[Indian Academy of Sciences]].<ref name="Indian Fellow - Sushil Kumar">{{cite web | url=http://insaindia.res.in/detail.php?id=N95-1177 | title=Indian Fellow - Sushil Kumar | publisher=Indian National Science Academy | date=2016 | accessdate=24 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 1981, 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=19 September 2016}}</ref>

== Biography ==
Sushil Kumar, born on 14 December 1940 in the Indian capital of Delhi, did his schooling at Municipal Primary School and [[Dayanand Anglo-Vedic Public School]], both Delhi-based schools, and graduated in science from [[Hansraj College]], Delhi in 1960.<ref name="NAAS fellows - Sushil Kumar">{{cite web | url=http://naasindia.org/fdetail.html | title=NAAS fellows - Sushil Kumar | publisher=National Academy of Agricultural Sciences | date=2016 | accessdate=27 September 2016}}</ref> He joined the [[Indian Agricultural Research Institute]] (IARI) for his post graduate studies from where he obtained his master's degree (MSc) in 1962 under the guidance of S. Ramanujam and continued his research there, mentored by A. T. Natarajan, to secure a doctoral degree (PhD) in 1965. He did his post-doctoral research under [[M. S. Swaminathan]], the pioneer of [[Indian Green Revolution]], during 1965–66 and continued his research in the US at [[Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory]] with Paul Margolin from 1966 to 1968, at [[University of Wisconsin-Madison]] with [[Wacław Szybalski]] from 1968 to 1970 and at [[University of Toronto]] with C. R. Fuerst from 1970 to 1971.<ref name="Indian Fellow - Sushil Kumar" />

Returning to India in 1971, Kumar joined the Indian Agricultural Research Institute as a geneticist and senior scientist where he served till 1989, serving as the professor of [[Molecular biology]] and [[Agricultural biotechnology]] from 1985 onward. Moving to the [[Council of Scientific and Industrial Research]] (CSIR) as a senior grade scientist in 1989, he became the director of the [[Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants]] in 1993, superannuating in that position in 2000.<ref name="Past Directors">{{cite web | url=http://www.cimap.res.in/english/index.php/about-us/2014-04-21-06-09-22 | title=Past Directors | publisher=Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants | date=2016 | accessdate=28 September 2016}}</ref> During his tenure at CSIR, he also held the directorship of two subsidiaries, the ''Human Resource Development Group'' in 1997 and the [[National Botanical Research Institute]] during 1998–99. Post his official retirement, he continued his association with CSIR as an emeritus scientist from 2001 to 2005 when he moved to the National Institute for Plant Genome Research, an autonomous institute under the [[Department of Biotechnology]] as an [[Indian National Science Academy|INSA]] Senior Scientist in 2006, holding the position till 2010.<ref name="NAAS fellows - Sushil Kumar" /> He has been associated with the SKA Institution for Research, Education and Development since 2012 where he continues his researches.<ref name="Genetics of dioecy and causal sex chromosomes in plants">{{cite journal | title=Genetics of dioecy and causal sex chromosomes in plants |author1=Kumar S. |author2=Kumari R. |author3=Sharma V. | journal=J. Genet. | date=April 2014 | volume=93 | issue=1 | pages=241–77 | pmid=24840848 | doi=10.1007/s12041-014-0326-7|s2cid=255493072 }}</ref>

== Legacy ==
[[File:E. coli Bacteria (7316101966).jpg|thumb|235px|Escherichia Coli]]
The researches of Sushil Kumar which focused on the fields of plant and microbial genetical [[genomics]] are reported to have assisted in a wider understanding of biotechnology and crop breeding.<ref name="NAAS fellows - Sushil Kumar" /> His early researches helped in the discovery of ''structural arrangement of chromosomes in the interphase nucleus'' and later, working on [[Escherichia coli]] and its [[bacteriophage Lambda]], he described its transcription map.<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 | accessdate=19 September 2016 | pages=32}}</ref> He elucidated the [[pleiotropic]] functions of [[cyclic AMP]] in Escherichia coli and elaborated on the antitermination and antiparallel transcription and transcription termination sites of Lambda phage.<ref name="Indian Fellow - Sushil Kumar" /> He is known to have discovered new genes in [[Rhizobium]], a [[nitrogen-fixing]] soil bacteria and developed its mutants which has higher nitrogen fixing capabilities, thus contributing to augmenting the cultivation of crops such as [[Pisum sativum]] (Pea), [[Catharanthus roseus]] (Madagascar periwinkle) and [[Triticum aestivum]] (Wheat).<ref name="Handbook of Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize Winners" /> His work also helped in the genetic improvement which yielded higher levels of [[artemisinin]] in [[Artemisia annua]] (Sweet wormwood) and essential oil in [[Mentha arvensis]] (Wild mint). His researches have been documented by way of over 300 articles and 25 books and he has received 80 international and 52 Indian patents for his work.<ref name="Kumar; Sushil - Patents">{{cite web | url=http://www.patentgenius.com/inventor/KumarSushil.html | title=Kumar; Sushil - Patents | publisher=Patent Genius | date=2016 | accessdate=28 September 2016}}</ref>

In 1971, Kumar founded the molecular genetics laboratory of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute{{Refn|group=note|The laboratory grew to become the ''Biotechnology Centre'' in 1985 and the ''National Research Centre on Plant Biotechnology'' in 1993.<ref name="National Research Centre on Plant Biotechnology">{{cite web | url=http://ztmbpd.iari.res.in/?q=content/national-research-centre-plant-biotechnology | title=National Research Centre on Plant Biotechnology | publisher=ZTMBPD | date=2016 | accessdate=28 September 2016}}</ref>}} and later, contributed to the introduction of an academic course in [[molecular genetics]] at the institute.<ref name="Indian Fellow - Sushil Kumar" /> During his tenure at the [[Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants]], he established a regional field station of the institute at [[Uttaranchal]] and founded a central Genetic Resources and Biotechnology Laboratory. A former president of the [[Indian Society of Genetics and Plant Breeding]] (1994–97), he started the ''Journal of Medicinal and Aromatic Plant Sciences'' during his tenure as the president.<ref name="Office Bearers">{{cite web | url=http://www.isgpb.co.in/Obearers.aspx | title=Office Bearers | publisher=Indian Society of Genetics and Plant Breeding | date=2016 | accessdate=28 September 2016}}</ref> He was associated with several other science journals such as [[Journal of Genetics]], ''Indian Journal of Genetics and Plant Breeding'', ''Indian Journal of Experimental Biology'' and ''Proceedings of Indian National Science Academy'' and mentored 32 doctoral scholars in their researches.<ref name="Indian Fellow - Sushil Kumar" />

== Awards and honors ==
Sushil Kumar received the Gold Medal from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute in 1962 and the Genetics Medal of the Indian Society of Genetics and Plant Breeding in 1965.<ref name="NAAS fellows - Sushil Kumar" /> The [[Council of Scientific and Industrial Research]] awarded him the [[Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize]], one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1981.<ref name="View Bhatnagar Awardees" /> The [[National Academy of Sciences, India]] awarded him the Distinguished Scientist Award in 1986 and he received two awards in 2000, the FICCI Science Award of the [[Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry]] and the [[Om Prakash Bhasin Award]].<ref name="OPB Awards">{{cite web | url=http://www.opbfawards.com/agriculture.html | title=OPB Awards | publisher=Om Prakash Bhasin Foundation | date=2016 | accessdate=28 September 2016}}</ref> The Shyam Bahadur Saksena Memorial Medal of INSA reached him in 2002<ref name="Professor Shyam Bahadur Saksena Memorial Award">{{cite web | url=http://insaindia.res.in/recipients.php#ps | title=Professor Shyam Bahadur Saksena Memorial Award | publisher=INSA | date=2016 | accessdate=28 September 2016}}</ref> and in 2003, he delivered the Dr. B. P. Pal Memorial Lecture of the National Academy of Sciences, India.<ref name="B. P. Pal Memorial Lecture">{{cite web | url=http://www.nasi.org.in/leca.htm | title=B. P. Pal Memorial Lecture | publisher=National Academy of Sciences, India | date=2016 | accessdate=28 September 2016}}</ref> The [[Indian Academy of Sciences]] elected him as their fellow in 1981<ref name="Fellow Profile IAS">{{cite web | url=http://www.ias.ac.in/describe/fellow/Sushil_Kumar,_Prof._ | title=Fellow Profile IAS | publisher=Indian Academy of Sciences | date=2016 | accessdate=28 September 2016}}</ref> and the [[National Academy of Agricultural Sciences]] followed suit in 1992. A year later, he was elected as a fellow by the National Academy of Sciences, India<ref name="NASI fellow">{{cite web | url=http://www.nasi.org.in/fellows.asp?RsFilter=K | title=NASI fellow | publisher=National Academy of Sciences, India | date=2016 | accessdate=28 September 2016}}</ref> and he became an elected fellow of the Indian National Science Academy in 1995.<ref name="Indian Fellow - Sushil Kumar" />

== See also ==
* [[M. S. Swaminathan]]
* [[Wacław Szybalski]]
{{portal|India|Biology}}

== Notes ==
{{reflist|group=note}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{cite web | url=http://www.nipgr.res.in/research/prof_skumar.php | title=Sushil Kumar | publisher=National Institute of Plant Genome Research | work=Scientist profile | date=2016 | accessdate=28 September 2016}}
* {{cite web | url=http://www.bioversityinternational.org/fileadmin/PGR/author-auth_Sushil%20Kumar-lang_en.html | title=Sushil Kumar | publisher=Bioversity International, Food and Agriculture Organization | work=Author profile | date=2016 | accessdate=28 September 2016}}
* {{cite journal | url=http://www.bhu.ac.in/science/botany/spandey.php | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151002164821/http://www.bhu.ac.in/science/botany/spandey.php | url-status=dead | archive-date=2 October 2015 | title=Salt tolerant mutants in GLYCOPHYTIC SALINITY RESPONSE (GSR) genes in Catharanthus roseus | author=Shashi Pandey Rai, R. Luthra and Sushil Kumar | journal=Theoretical and Applied Genetics | year=2003 | volume=106 | issue=2 | pages=221–230 | doi=10.1007/s00122-002-1026-x| pmid=12582847 | s2cid=20742960 | url-access=subscription }}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite journal | url=https://www.yumpu.com/en/document/view/10878686/genetics-of-flowering-time-in-bread-wheat-triticum-aestivum-indian-/7 | title=Genetics of flowering time in Bread Wheat Triticum Aestivum |author1=Kumar S. |author2=Sharma V. |author3=Chaudhary S. |author4=Tyagi A. |author5=Mishra P. |author6=Priyadarshini A. |author7=Singh A. | journal=Journal of Genetics | date=April 2012 | volume=91 | issue=1 | pages=33–47 |doi=10.1007/s12041-012-0149-3 | pmid=22546824 | s2cid=255493006 | url-access=subscription }}

{{SSBPST recipients in Biological Science}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kumar, Sushil}}
[[Category:Recipients of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in Biological Science]]
[[Category:1940 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Scientists from Delhi]]
[[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:Fellows of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences]]
[[Category:Dayanand Anglo-Vedic Schools System alumni]]
[[Category:University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni]]
[[Category:University of Toronto alumni]]
[[Category:Council of Scientific and Industrial Research]]
[[Category:Indian geneticists]]
[[Category:Indian molecular biologists]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian biologists]]
[[Category:Om Prakash Bhasin Award recipients]]

Sushil Kumar (biologist) - Revision history

Vikaasajublieeschool: bio