Naveen C. Bisht obtained B.Sc. (1997) from Delhi University and M.Sc. (1999) from G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar. He was awarded Ph.D. Genetics (2005) from Delhi University, in the area of genetics of barnase-barstar system for heterosis breeding in Indian oilseed mustard. Thereafter, he worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow and Research Scientist (2005-2007) at CGMCP, Department of Genetics, Delhi University for the fine mapping and breeding of glucosinolate trait in mustard. He joined the DBT-National Institute of Plant Genome Research (NIPGR), New Delhi as Scientist II (2007). He had an opportunity to work as a Visiting Scientist (2008-2010) at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, USA with Prof. Joseph Jez. Since 2024, he has been working as Scientist VI at NIPGR, New Delhi.

Academic & Research Achievements: Dr. Bisht’s research program is committed to understanding the molecular-genetic and biochemical regulation of the complex glucosinolate trait and developing nutritionally improved lines and hybrids in the Indian oilseed mustard. His group, for the first time, elucidated the structure-function relationship of a multigenic family of enzymes, METHYLTHIOALKYLMALATE SYNTHASE, that contribute to glucosinolate diversity in the Brassicaceae family. Dr. Bisht’s group developed low glucosinolate transgenic mustard lines through RNAi-mediated silencing of a key transcriptional regulator, MYB28. In addition, his group also demonstrated the bio-fortification of Indian mustard with a high amount of anti-cancer compound, glucoraphanin in seeds, sprouts, and leaves through constitutive silencing of ALKENYL HYDROXALKYL PRODUCING-2 gene homologs. Very recently, his group demonstrated CRISPR/Cas9 editing of Glucosinolate Transporter (GTR) family genes to develop the transgene-free ideal low-seed, high-leaf glucosinolate lines, with huge translation potential for developing Canola-quality mustard. He has over 50 publications in different national and international journals of repute and has 5 patents granted to his credit.

Other contributions: Dr. Bisht is an active member of various national-level committees including the Forest Advisory Committee, MoEFCC, Govt of India (since Jan 2023); DBT- Technical Expert Committee on Agriculture Sciences (since April 2022); DBT- Task Force under the Star College Scheme (since 2019); DBT- Expert Committee on Promotion & Popularization of Biotechnology (since 2017); SERB-Startup Research Grant (SRG) & National Post-Doctoral Fellowship Schemes in Life Sciences (since 2021). He has also served as Associate and Topic editor in Frontiers in Plant Sciences (2019 onwards), Nature Scientific Reports (2017-2023), Physiology and Molecular Biology of Plants (2017-2020). He is a recipient of Travel grants from DBT, DST and GRC. 

Awards and Honors: Dr. Bisht is a recipient of several awards and honors including the INSA Young Scientist Medal (2007); DBT-Rapid Grant for Young Investigator (2007-10); DBT-Innovative Young Biotechnologist Award (2012-2018); Max Planck India Fellow (2013-2016); NASI-Scopus Young Scientist Award (2017); and DBT- S. Ramachandran National Bioscience Award for Career Development (2019). He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Science, India, Allahabad (2020); National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, New Delhi (2022); Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore (2023); and the Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi (2024).