Google has marked the 104th birth anniversary of Indian cell biologist Dr Kamal Ranadive today, 8 November, with a doodle. She is known for her novel research on cancer and her devotion towards creating a more unbiased society through education and science.
The doodle is illustrated by Ibrahim Rayintakath, an India-based artist, and shows Dr Ranadive looking through a microscope.
“Ranadive also encouraged students and Indian scholars abroad to return to India and put their knowledge to work for their communities. After retiring in 1989, Dr Ranadive worked in rural communities in Maharashtra, training women as healthcare workers and providing health and nutrition education. The IWSA now has 11 chapters in India and provides scholarships and childcare options for women in science,” Google wrote in a statement.
Who is Kamal Ranadive
Kamal Samarath, better known as Kamal Ranadive was born on 8 November, 1917, in Pune, Maharashtra. It was her father who encouraged her to pursue medical education to excel academically, She received a doctorate in cytology in the year 1949. Cytology is the study of cells.
Ranadive was working at the Indian Cancer Research Center (ICRC) as a researcher when she received her doctorate. She completed her fellowship at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, USA. She then returned to India and started the country’s first tissue culture laboratory in Mumbai.
Ranadive also studied Mycobacterium leprae which is the bacterium that causes leprosy. While studying, she further aided in developing a vaccine.
Ranadive’s achievements
Ranadive, who became the director of ICRC and a developer in animal modelling of cancer development, became one of the first researchers in the country to suggest a link between breast cancer and heredity. She was also the one in the team to identify the links between certain viruses and cancer.
Ranadive, in 1973, founded the Indian Women Scientists’ Association (IWSA) with an aim to support women in scientific fields along with her 11 colleagues.