Google Doodle celebrates 100th birthday of noted Indian chemist

Google Doodle celebrates 100th birthday of noted Indian chemist Asima Chatterjee

Dr. Asima Chatterjee is known to have made ground breaking developments with her research in the filed of medicine. Her most noted contribution to the medical field was her research on vinca alkaloids, a compound that helps in slowing down cancer cells from multiplying.

Google is known to come up with innovative and creative alterations for its logo to celebrate holidays, events, achievements and people in the form of ‘Google Doodle’. It is designed in a unique way, capturing the character of the person or the occasion it features. Continuing its trend, Google today has come up with an interesting doodle to commemorate the 100th birthday of noted Indian chemist Asima Chatterjee.

Born on September 23, 1917, Dr. Chatterjee grew up in the beaming city of Calcutta, West Bengal. During those days, when it was uncommon for women to study chemistry, Chatterjee completed her graduation in organic chemistry from Calcutta University and later went on to become the first woman in India to receive a doctorate in Science from an Indian university in 1994.

Dr. Chatterjee is known to have made path breaking developments with her research in the filed of medicine. She has made significant contribution in medicinal study; reference to alkaloids, coumarins and terpenoids, analytical chemistry, and mechanistic organic chemistry. Her study primarily focused on medicinal properties of plant and development of drugs to treat malaria and epilepsy.

However, her most noted contribution to the medical field was her research on vinca alkaloids. These compounds, made from plants, are used to treat medical ailments and are used in today’s chemotherapy treatment. They are known to help slow down the multiplication of malignant cancer cells.

In 1975, Dr. Chatterjee went on to become the first Indian woman to be appointed general president of the Indian Science Congress and has also received the Padma Bhushan – one of the highest civilian awards bestowed by the Indian government. She has published over 400 papers in national and international journals.