P.M. Bhargava: The Indian man who saw tomorrow in a cell

Pushpa M. Bhargava, known among colleagues as PMB, spent much of his career shaping the landscape of modern biology in India. His contributions were not just scientific but also philosophical, as he once remarked that he “saw tomorrow in a cell.” Born in Uttar Pradesh, Bhargava received his early education through homeschooling due to his advanced intellect, which schools deemed unsuitable for his age. He earned a PhD in chemistry from Lucknow University before making a pivotal decision to switch fields, moving into biology, driven by his belief that the future lay in understanding life at the cellular level. In 1959, while still in academia, Bhargava drafted a visionary note outlining the need for a national biological laboratory. This document would eventually become the blueprint for the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), an institution that has since become a cornerstone of biological research in India. Despite repeated rejections from committees dominated by traditional chemists and biologists, Bhargava persisted. He organized an international seminar at the Regional Research Laboratory to highlight the significance of molecular biology and continued submitting his proposal, including a revised version in 1964. His path to Hyderabad began when Hussain Zaheer, a colleague from the Central Laboratories for Scientific and Industrial Research (CLSIR), extended an invitation. Though Lucknow University offered him a position, Bhargava felt the opportunities there were limited. He initially taught at Mahabub College and later joined the Chemistry Department at Osmania University. It was Zaheer who secured him a role at CLSIR, leading to his residence in Tarnaka, where he shared a home with fellow scholars like Abdul Rahman and K.T. Achaya. Bhargava's decision to leave chemistry was rooted in his growing conviction that biology held greater promise. He sought to study abroad and secured a post-doctoral position with Charles Heidelberger at the University of Wisconsin. There, he engaged with the groundbreaking work of Francis Crick on DNA and met his future wife, Manorama. During this time, he also developed his political awareness amid the McCarthy era. Later, he completed a second post-doctoral fellowship at the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) in Mill Hill, England, where his transition from chemistry to biology solidified. The establishment of CCMB was catalyzed by the 1973 oil crisis. Bhargava, recognizing the strategic importance of biotechnology, warned Dr. Nayudamma, the newly appointed Director-General of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), that India risked falling behind if it failed to invest in the field. This prompted the formation of a committee, and on April 1, 1977, the foundation of CCMB was officially laid, emerging from the Department of Biochemistry. Bhargava believed that a laboratory was defined not by its physical structure but by the people and ideas within it. He emphasized the importance of observation and independent thinking, often challenging his recruits to question even his assertions. Among those he mentored was Lalji Singh, whose work on sex determination in organisms, including temperature-dependent mechanisms in crocodiles, contributed significantly to the field. At CCMB, there was no rigid hierarchy; all members, including Bhargava himself, were addressed by their first names, fostering a collaborative and egalitarian environment.