Bhuban Mohan Gupta did his Ph.D. (1950) from the University of Pittsburgh, USA. His specialization was in Virology. He was Assistant Director and Head as well as Principal Investigator of Interferon Project, Division of Virology, Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow.

Academic and Research Achievements: Gupta’s researches were concerned with virus chemotherapy. He used phytoviruses as model to screen fungi and identify, for the first time, the existence of host-specific, broad-spectrum antiviral substances. He isolated an antiviral agent (double-stranded RNA) with capacity to induce interferon (pH-labile and pH-stable) and modulate immune responses in vertebrates. Dr Gupta’s studies also resulted in the discovery of a new bacteriophage called CVX-5. He isolated this phage from a colitis patient and carried out its morphologic, antigenic and biochemical characterization. He studied in detail the dynamics of plaque formation of CVX-5 using the host E coli and his conclusions can be applied to understand and analyze mammalian cell-virus interaction as well. Dr Gupta was also interested in induced antiviral substances in plants. His research in this direction earlier with Dr WC Price at Pithburgh had resulted in the discovery of T Poly, stationary fermentation product of the fungus Trichothecium roseum having potent antiviral activity in plants. Dr Gupta showed that the production of an antiviral factor is induced in the leaves upon treatment with T Poly that translocated into other parts rendering the whole plant resistant to infection.

Other Contributions: Gupta was a Member of Association of Microbiologists (India) and President of the Association of Plant Pathologists of India. He was also a Fellow of College of Allergy and Applied Immunology.

Awards and Honours: Gupta was conferred with Indian Chemical Manufacturers Association Lecture (1971) and Vyas Memorial Award Lecture (1978).