Google Doodle marks Indian biochemist Dr Kamala Sohonie’s 112th birthday: Who was she?

Google on Sunday, June 18, remembered Indian biochemist Dr Kamala Sohonie with a Doodle on her 112th birth anniversary. Dr Sohonie was the first Indian woman to receive a PhD in a scientific discipline in 1939. From her work on potatoes, she discovered the enzyme 'Cytochrome C' which plays an essential role in the electron transport chain (the process by which energy is created for organisms), found in plants, human and animal cells.

Dr Sohonie was born on June 18, 1911, in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. Her father, Narayanarao Bhagvat, as well as her uncle, Madhavrao Bhagvat, were chemists and alumni of the erstwhile Tata Institute of Sciences (which later became the Indian Institute of Science or IISc) in Bengaluru. Sohonie graduated in 1933 with a bachelor's degree in science from Bombay University. Despite facing scepticism and gender bias, she became the first woman to be accepted into IISc in the same year.

Dr Kamala was invited to Cambridge University in the UK to work under Dr Derek Richter in the Frederick G Hopkins laboratory. The biochemist then returned to India in 1939 and was appointed professor and head of the department of biochemistry at Lady Hardinge Medical College in New Delhi.

Later, Dr Kamala worked at the Nutrition Research Laboratory, Coonoor as Assistant Director, focusing on the effects of vitamins. She worked on the development of an affordable dietary supplement called Neera, made from palm nectar. The drink with Vitamin C proved to be a valuable resource for combating malnutrition among children and pregnant women.

Dr Kamala was awarded the Rashtrapati Award for her work in this subject. An active member of the Consumer Guidance Society of India (CGSI), she died in 1998.