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Special reportCrystallography in India

India hashad anancienttradition inscience thatspans manycenturies. Inthe moderncontext,India enteredtheinternationalscientificmainstreamin the early1900s andearly activitywas alsoconnectedwith thefreedomstruggle-thesetting up ofthe IndianAssociation for the Cultivation of Science (IACS) in Calcutta in1905 was a purely indigenous move intended to indicate to theBritish authorities that original scientific research aiming at Westernstandards could be carried out in a colonial territory.Understandably, this was not entirely to the liking of thegovernment. Serious research began in universities in the 1920s and1930s (Allahabad, Dhaka, Punjab, Delhi, Mysore, Andhra,Banaras) pursuing the idea of teaching-cum-research institutions, incontrast to the purely teaching universities of Madras, Bombay andCalcutta set up by the British. The setting up of the nationallaboratory system (now called Council for Scientific and IndustrialResearch, CSIR), a few years before independence in 1947, was amajor initiative. Important investments in science education andresearch were made by the government in the 1960s (IndianInstitutes of Technology, IIT) and more recently, after 2000.Modern, that is post-diffraction, crystallography is therefore asyoung as the modern research tradition in India and it is interestingto trace the course of the subject in this vast country (see map), tosee how we have developed and strengthened research in physical,

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The background for the map is from a magnificent crystallinespecimen (> 100 cm2) of mica intergrown with haematitefrom the collection of C.V. Raman (courtesy Raman ResearchInst., Bangalore).

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chemical and biological crystallography. Attempting to do worldclass research, in a country that was geographically far removedfrom the major international scientific centres, a country which wasgrappling with tremendous problems as it made the transition froman older order into the modern world, was not easy. Today, time anddistance scales have shrunk in all ways; globalization and theemergence of India as a major economic power have meant thatIndian scientists have had to quickly readjust themselves, at leastthose who would like to project into a future in which India wouldprovide international scientific leadership. The reader should notethe equivalences of new and older place names in the text, such asChennai (Madras), Mumbai (Bombay), Kolkata (Calcutta), NewDelhi (Delhi) and Pune (Poona). Abbreviations are commonly usedin India, for places and people, and they are invariably used herefor institution names after the first appearance.

Summary of activities between 1930 and1980

The earliest crystallographic activity in India was the determinationof the crystal structures of naphthalene and anthracene by K.Banerjee at IACS (Nature, 125, 456, 1930). IACS was the nucleusof crystallographic activity through the work of C.V. Raman, M.N.Saha, K.S. Krishnan, and S. Bhagavantam. These pioneers werephysicists, and for decades, crystallography in India reflected aphysics bias in the schools developed by G.N. Ramachandran in theU. of Madras, by A.R. Verma in Banaras Hindu U., (BHU),National Physical Lab. (NPL) and Delhi U., by S. Ramaseshan inNational Aeronautical Lab., Bangalore and by R. Chidambaram inBhabha Atomic Research Centre, Bombay, (BARC).

G.N. Ramachandran, a studentof C.V. Raman, and arguably themost distinguished scientist ofindependent India, worked onfibrous proteins and isrecognized for the well knowntriple helical model for thestructure of collagen (1954) andthe now ubiquitousRamachandran Plot forvalidation of protein structures(1963). Contact distances ofnon-bonded atom pairs obtainedfrom the crystal structures ofsmall organic molecules wereused to delineate theconformational space that a polypeptide chain can occupy, leadingin turn to the use of a plot of phi and psi conformational angles in aprotein structure as a diagnostic tool in the evaluation of proteinstructures. The collagen structure was a very important ingredientin the development of the subject of structural biology. Influentialbooks by him and his associates (R. Srinivasan, S. Parthasarathy) in1970 and 1976 on methods of solving the phase problem and

G.N. Ramachandran’s original modelof collagen triple helix.

crystallographic statistics, are also noteworthy. Ramachandran washonored with the Ewald Prize, the highest recognition of the IUCr,in 1999. Anomalous dispersion as a structure solution tool wasproposed by S. Ramaseshan and K.Venkatesan in Indian Institute ofScience (IISc) Bangalore in 1957 and by S. Raman in Madras. Thepotential of this tool was, however, realised outside India only afterthe advent of synchrotron radiation and ultrafast computers, in theform of the well known MAD and SAD techniques inmacromolecular crystallography.

A.R. Verma and his students P.Krishna, K. Lal, O.N.Srivastava, G. Singh and G.C.Trigunayat initiated research inthe area of crystal growth andimperfections in solids, usingtechniques of X-ray diffractionand optical as well as electronmicroscopy. He was the first touse multiple beaminterferometry to directlyobserve a dislocation. His groupstudied the surfaces of singlecrystals using phase contrastmicroscopy and measured theobserved step-heights usingmultiple-beam-interferometry.They took photographs ofgrowth spirals on the surface of SiC and CdI2 polytype crystals anddetermined their crystal structure using X-ray diffractiontechniques. Many new polytype structures of SiC, CdI2 and ZnSwere identified. Several anomalous structures were observed whosegrowth could not be understood in terms of traditional models ofspiral growth around screw dislocations. They therefore proposedan alternative faulted matrix model which gave a good agreementbetween theoretically predicted and observed structures. A wellknown monograph (Verma and Krishna, 1966) on polymorphismand polytypism continues to be well cited, and is relevant todaygiven the current importance of polymorphs in pharmaceuticals.

G.B. Mitra (Indian Inst. of Technology, IIT, Kharagpur) studiedthermal expansion of crystals and the relationships between latticedefects and particle sizes. He established methods for classifyingcoal, estimating mineral contents and particle sizes of coal mineralsusing X-ray diffraction. He also developed a microwave analoguefor the calculation of structure factors. R. Chidambaram began aprogram of neutron diffraction in BARC, Mumbai and carried outoriginal studies on amino acids and hydrogen bonding. Nucleic acidcrystallography was introduced by M.A. Viswamitra in IISc. Thefirst oligonucleotide dp(AT)2 structure solved by him, incollaboration with O. Kennard in Cambridge, gave the first view ofa DNA duplex in atomic detail. Small molecule structuredeterminations were always being carried out in several groups, butthe lack of proper instrumentation and computation was a definitehandicap. Still, the early contributions of L. M. Pant (NationalChemical Lab., NCL, Poona) on charge densities, H. Manohar

Growth spiral on SiC surface (A.R.Verma) and extract of letter from L.Pauling.

(IISc) on topotactic reactions and natural products (Z. Krist., 1962,117, 273), M.A. Viswamitra on nucleotides, and K. Venkatesan(IISc) on photochemical reactions in organic solids (Chem. Rev.,1987, 87, 433) are noteworthy.

Scientific communication with the international community waslimited in those early years to leading personalities. Meetingsconducted in Madras by G.N. Ramachandran in the 1960s attractedluminaries like W.L. Bragg, L. Pauling, D.C. Hodgkin, J.D. Bernal,J. M. Bijvoet, N.V. Belov, W. Cochran and A.I. Kitaigorodskii,while K. Lonsdale, F.C. Frank, P.L. Kapitza and F. Bertaut visitedthe laboratories of A.R. Verma in Delhi. Visits of Indians to foreigncountries were even more limited. A.R. Verma and T.R.Anantharaman were trained abroad, but most others werehomespun products, at the most spending a few years of post-doctoral studies abroad, mostly in the U.K.

Macromolecular crystallography and drugdesign

Early attempts towards establishing macromolecularcrystallographic studies in India were initiated at IISc (M. Vijayan)and BARC (K.K. Kannan), in the late 1970s and early 1980s.Crystallography of peanut lectin (J. Mol. Biol., 1982, 154, 177;Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 1994, 91, 227) at IISc marked thebeginning of a very productive and scientifically rich proteincrystallography program. The early focus of the BARC group wasmainly on the crystallography of carbonic anhydrases (J. Mol. Biol.,1986, 190, 129; J. Mol. Biol., 1994, 241, 226). These two groupswere working in geographical isolation, and special efforts wererequired for building necessary infrastructure and indigenous skills.Major infrastructural support provided by the Dept. of Science andTechnology (DST) in 1983 to the Bangalore centre proved crucialin spurring subsequent growth and expansion of macromolecularcrystallography in India. Macromolecular crystallography has nowspread across the country, and more than 30 research groups in 15institutions are now actively engaged in these efforts. Notable is theactive participation of many groups in the international structuralgenomics initiatives (Curr. Sci., 2003, 85, 878). A large number ofimportant protein structures from diverse organisms have beendetermined as a part of these efforts. Protein crystallographyactivities are marked by close collaborations betweencrystallographers, biochemists and molecular biologists.

The IISc has many independent groupsactive in the area. M. Vijayan (IISc) andhis group has focussed on thecrystallography of lectins and in additionto determining many novel structures andrecognizing new folds, assemblies andquaternary structures, his group hasestablished a rich protein architecturaldatabase that may be correlated with thecarbohydrate binding patterns (Nat. Struct.

Subunit assembly of

Biol., 1996, 3, 596; Curr. Opin. Struct.Biol., 1999, 9, 707). His group has alsocarried out innovative studies addressing protein hydration andassociated phase transitions (J. Biol. Chem., 1990, 265, 16126).Also investigated are comparative crystal structure analyses ofRecA and RuvA from M tuberculosis (M TB) and other bacteriaproviding elegant mechanistic insights regarding recombination (J.Mol. Biol., 2007, 367, 1130; Tuberculosis (Edinb), 2005, 85, 357).Other protein structures that have been determined from M TBinclude the promoter recognition domain of the sigma factor fromM TB by B. Gopal (J. Biol. Chem., 2007, 282, 4711). K. Suguna hasdetermined structures from P falciparum including a complex oftriose-phosphate isomerase-2-phosphoglycerate (J. Biol. Chem.,2003, 278, 52461) and FabZ (Acta Cryst., 2007, D63, 458). M.R.N.Murthy has examined two viruses, sesbania mosaic virus andphysalis mottle virus providing structural architectures and alsomechanistic details of virus assembly (Structure, 1995, 3, 1021;Virology, 2006, 346, 440). S. Ramakumar has determined thestructure of a thermostable xylanase from T aurantiacus at veryhigh resolution (J. Mol. Biol., 1999, 288, 999).

D.M. Salunke(National Inst. ofImmunology, NII,New Delhi) hasaddressedcontemporary issues inimmune mechanismsand elegantcrystallographicexperiments have beencarried out by his group to discover novel mechanisms of antibodydiversity with implications to affinity maturation, and analysis as tohow the immune system reacts when encountered with antigens ofchanging shape (Immunity, 2006, 24, 429; J. Immunol., 2002, 168,2371). His group has also explored molecular mimicry in thephysiological context, towards delineating the associated structuralrules and possible molecular mechanism of a disease condition(Biochemistry, 2005, 44, 5588; J. Biol. Chem., 2001, 276, 39277).

In Hyderabad, S.C. Mande (Center of DNA Fingerprinting andDiagnostics, CDFD) has actively pursued structural genomics of MTB and has determined the crystal structures of chaperonins, andchorismate mutase (J. Bacteriol., 2004, 186, 8105; Biochemistry,2006, 45, 6997). The latter structure has provided valuable insightsregarding the role of this enzyme in host-pathogen interactions.Also in Hyderabad, R. Sankaranarayanan (Center for Cellular andMolecular Biology, CCMB) has contributed to the structuralgenomics of M TB and has determined the mycobacterial type IIIpolyketide synthase structure, providing a structural basis forgenerating diverse metabolites (Nat. Struct. Mol. Biol., 2004, 11,894). After determining the structure of threonyl-tRNA synthetasefrom archaea, his group deciphered an interesting D-amino acidediting module coupled to the translational apparatus (Nat. Struct.Mol. Biol., 2005, 12, 556).

physallis mottle virus(M.R.N. Murthy)

Differentially juxtaposed independent antigens ona germline antibody 36-65 to show a mechanismof generating diverse specificities (D.M.Salunke).

The group at the International Center for Genetic Engineering andBiotechnology, ICGEB, in New Delhi (A. Sharma) is pursuing thestructural basis of host cell receptor recognition by malarial parasite(Nature, 2006, 439, 741). The structure of a gametocyte proteinessential for sexual development in P falciparum has also beendetermined (Nat. Struct. Biol., 2003, 10, 197). S. Gourinath at theJawaharlal Nehru U. (New Delhi) has determined the structure of acalcium binding protein from E histolytica (Proteins, 2007, 68,990).

J. K. Dattagupta in Saha Inst. of Nuclear Physics (Kolkata) carriedout structural work on proteases and protease inhibitors (Proteins,2003, 51, 489; Acta Cryst., 1996, D52, 521). This group hasevolved into a centre for structural genomics. Recently, thestructure of a DNA binding protein lambda CII was determined atBose Inst., Kolkata (P. Parrack) providing insights into therecognition of direct-repeat DNA by an unusual tetramericorganization (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 2005, 102, 11242). A.K.Das (IIT, Kharagpur) has initiated structural genomics studies anddetermined the crystal structure of a low-molecular-weight proteintyrosine phosphatase from M TB (J. Bacteriol., 2005, 187, 217581).

M.V. Hosur (BARC) is exploring structural biology of protease-inhibitor complexes towards rational design of HIV/AIDS drugs(Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 2006, 103, 18464) while V. Kumar hasaddressed structural enzymology of acid phosphatases(Biochemistry, 2007, 46, 2079). C.G. Suresh (NCL) has determinedthe structures of penicillin V acylase and a conjugated bile salthydrolase and has elucidated the evolutionary relationship betweenthem (Nat. Struct. Biol., 1999, 6, 414; J. Biol. Chem., 2006, 281,32516).

An active autolysate form of porcine alpha-trypsin was the firsthigh resolution protein structure (1.8 Å) determined in Chennai byV. Pattabhi (Acta Cryst., 1997, D53, 311). The Madras U. centrehas also provided valuable insights with regard to sequencedependent features of DNA structure (N. Gautham) based on aseries of designed oligonucleotide crystal structures (Nucleic AcidsRes., 2004, 32, 5945). D. Velmurugan has contributed to themodern approaches of macromolecular structure determination (J.Synchrotron Rad., 2004, 11, 358).

Crystal structures of therapeuticallyimportant proteins in complexes withcompounds that modulate their functionare fundamental to the development ofstructure based strategies for new drugdesign. Significant experimental andcomputational activity in these areas isseen in the recently burgeoning corporateR&D sector. Notable among these are thegroups in Aurigene Technologies,Bangalore (www.aurigene.com) and Jubilant Biosys Ltd, Bangalore(www.jubilantbiosys.com). Jubilant and Aurigene are drugdiscovery service organizations specializing in structural biologyand structure based drug design. Hundreds of crystal structures of

Crystal structure ofprotein tyrosinephosphatase-1Bcomplex with aninhibitor (Aurigene).

several therapeutically important classes of proteins incorporatingmany designed compounds have been determined at theseorganizations.

T. P. Singh (All IndiaInst. of MedicalSciences, New Delhi)has contributed to thecrystallography ofmammary glandproteins, such aslactoferrins (J. Mol.Biol., 2001, 309, 751; J. Biol. Chem., 2003, 278, 14451). His grouphas been working on targets implicated in various disease areasincluding inflammation, cancer and infectious diseases. Severalcrystal structures of Phospholipase A2, in complex with anti-inflammatory agents have provided valuable information towardsdesign of therapeutically potent molecules (Curr. Top. Med. Chem.,2007, 7, 757).

Central Drug Research Inst., Lucknow established a strong groupdedicated to drug discovery utilizing rational structure basedmethods led by H. Subramanya and subsequently by R.Ramachandran. Novel inhibitors have been designed to target aDNA ligase and Lysine e-aminotransferase from M. TB (J. Biol.Chem., 2005, 280, 30273; J. Mol. Biol., 2006, 362, 877; Med.Chem. Res. 2007, 15, 181) using the structural information as wellas virtual screening techniques. This group successfully decipheredthe function of a protein based on its crystal structure and showedthat it is a SAM-dependent methyl transferase (J. Mol. Biol., 2001,312, 381).

Other groups, in Madurai Kamaraj U. (S. Krishnaswamy), IITs inRoorkee (P. Kumar & A.K. Sharma), Chennai (N. Manoj) andKanpur (B. Prakash) and Inst. of Microbial Technology,Chandigarh (S. Karthikeyan) are also actively pursuing structuralbiology programmes by multi-dimensional approaches thatdominantly include crystallography. Other institutions such asNational Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bangalore, Inst.of Genomics and Integrative Biology, Delhi, Panjab U.(Chandigarh) and Tata Memorial Centre (ACTREC), Navi Mumbaihave recently initiated crystallography-based modern biologyresearch activities. The protein folding problem has also beenaddressed through the design of structural motifs in oligopeptides(N. Shamala, S. Ramakumar, IISc; V. Pattabhi, Chennai). Whilemacromolecular crystallography seems to have acquired the criticalmass required for continued progress, keeping pace with futureinternational developments in this field could be considerablylimited due to lack of easy access to synchrotron radiation sources.

Professor M. Vijayan

M. Vijayan is Honorary Professor at the Molecular BiophysicsUnit, Indian Inst. of Science, Bangalore. He has played a major role

Structures of proteins secreted during differentphases of mammary gland function (T. P. Singh).

in the establishment of macromolecularcrystallography research in India. He obtained hisPh.D. from IISc in 1967 and did post-doctoral workwith Dorothy Hodgkin on the structuredetermination of insulin. After returning to India, heestablished a very active school of macromolecularcrystallography in IISc. Many of the over 50 students and post-doctoral fellows who trained with him during the past 35 years havenow established frontline structural biology programs all overIndia. In his research contributions in lectin biology, he identifiedmany novel folds and quaternary structural organizations. Heanalysed a large number of structures from peanut, winged bean,jackfruit, garlic, banana and snake gourd lectin. His analysis of theroles of water-bridges, post-translational modification,oligomerisation and variation in loop length led to strategies forgenerating carbohydrate specificity. He orchestrated a nationalprogramme on the structural genomics of microbial pathogens evenwhile making his own contributions to the structural genomics of Mtuberculosis. He provided fundamental insights into the relationshipbetween hydration, molecular mobility and enzyme action using anovel approach involving water-mediated crystal transformations.He has been closely associated with the IUCr, AsCA and the ICA.He is the immediate past-president of AsCA. He founded the ICAin 2001 and was its president until 2004. He has been honored withFellowships of the three most important science academies in India(INSA, IASc, NASc) and of TWAS (Academy of Science for theDeveloping World), with the Bhatnagar Prize in 1985 and with theDistinguished Biotechnologist Award for 2004. The President ofIndia conferred the Padma Shri civilian award upon him in 2004.He has been recently elected as president of INSA which is thecorresponding body in India for IUCr.

Crystal engineering and structuralchemistry

Till around 2000, chemical crystallographers in the country werestruggling to get even the unit cell of a crystal and an ORTEPdiagram because the scientific funding bodies of the governmentdid not favour the general acquisition of state-of-the-art singlecrystal X-ray diffractometers. A change in this attitude resulted in avastly improved situation for chemical crystallographers, indeedone wherein the Indian contribution to this global activity isrepresented by the deposit of over 2000 crystal structures in theCambridge Structural Database (CSD) during the past seven years.Of these, about a third originate from the U. of Hyderabad whereearly work by G.R. Desiraju laid the foundations of the subject ofcrystal engineering worldwide (See box). The additional routineavailability of low temperature equipment, powder diffractometers,automated structure solution software and inexpensive highperformance computers is a further advantageous factor. Luckily,the hectic pace of research in small molecule crystallography inIndia also comes at a time when the subject of crystal engineeringis growing rapidly, and the Indian contribution in the high impactjournals Crystal Growth & Design (IF 4.37) and CrystEngComm

M. Vijayan

(IF 3.71) is truly impressive. Several aspects of crystal engineeringsuch as intermolecular interactions, crystal synthesis, crystalgrowth, polymorphism, and at a fundamental level, understandingthe mechanism of crystallization, is being actively pursued byaround 10 to 15 independent groups. One may confidently state thatthese groups are at the forefront of this innovative and outward-looking branch of the chemical sciences, which goes beyondtraditional divisions of organic, inorganic and physical chemistry.

Two papers are selected herefrom the 300 publications ofGautam Desiraju. In aninteresting connection betweenintermolecular interactions,crystal packing and mechanicalproperties, it was shown thatorganic crystals whereinteractions along differentdirections are of different strengths are susceptible to anisotropicbending and shearing (Chem. Eur. J., 2006, 12, 2222), therebyaffording a very dramatic way of comparing weak interactions. Inanother recent study, the hydration/dehydration behaviour ofsodium saccharin was studied crystallographically, and a heavilyhydrated large volume unit cell structure (15000 Å3) was describedas a model for a supramolecular transition state duringcrystallization (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2005, 44, 2515). This resultcould have important implications in elucidating the mechanism ofcrystallization.

The ongoing activities within the Indian crystal engineeringcommunity and in related areas are now summarized for the IITs,the single largest category of institutions in this section, followedby the universities, and finally the Government laboratories ofCSIR. The reader should note that there is also a great deal ofcrystal structure analysis of small molecule structures in otherchemical and biological projects wherein crystal structuresystematics was not the main aim, and in service crystallographygroups, and that the number of 2000 structures in the CSD quotedabove pertains largely to the activity in the crystal engineering field.

A. Ramanan at IIT, Delhi is developing chimie douce (softchemistry) techniques such as hydrothermal, sol-gel and moltenflux methods to isolate new hybrid materials with multi-dimensional structural features including nanomaterials. Hisobjective is to establish reliable connections between molecular andsupramolecular structures on the basis of intermolecularinteractions, especially hydrogen bonding. A systematicinvestigation of crystal growth and influence of the solvent mediumand reaction conditions (pH, temperature andhydrothermal/solvothermal) have enabled his group to recognizethe building of molecular and hybrid solids in terms ofsupramolecular assembly of molecular species. The templating roleof organic ligands and counter ions in helical structures,interpenetrating networks and pillared frameworks aredemonstrated in vanadates, molybdates, MOFs, calcium phosphatesand crystal hydrates. A theme paper elucidating the chemical events

Bending of α-pyrazinamide crystalalong the (100) crystal face (G.R.Desiraju).

from molecular recognition and supramolecular assembly to metal-organic frameworks appeared as a Perspective in Crystal Growth &Design (2006, 6, 2419). The synthesis of mononuclear, binuclear,trinuclear and polynuclear metal carboxylate complexes interestsJ.B. Baruah at IIT, Guwahati. Origins of polymorphism in aqua-bridged 2-nitrobenzoato cobalt(II) complexes have been ascribed todifferences in the orientation of aromatic-ring substituent. Co-crystals of neutral transition metal complexes and crystal structuresof phthalimide and 1,8-naphthalimide derivatives are systems ofinterest, the latter for their optical properties. M. Ray is assemblingchiral molecules into cages and organized networks using metalcomplexes of amino acid derivatives. The metal provides thestability while the organic ligand directs the hydrogen bonding. Hisgroup synthesized and characterized a supramolecular capsule of L-histidine-Cu(II) and discovered an elegant way to reversiblydisassemble the capsule via a molecular trigger. Helical channels ofhistidine ligand with Fe(III) can be emptied and refilled with iodine(Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2003, 42, 1940).

R. Mukherjee’s research at IIT, Kanpur coverscoordination chemistry, biomimetic inorganicchemistry and inorganic crystal engineering (DaltonTrans., 2006, 1611). He is working on the synthesis,characterization, properties and interactions of (i)coordination compounds of varying nuclearity withnovel electronic, magnetic and redox properties; (ii)bio-inspired coordination compounds, e.g. low-molecular-weight representations of metallo-biomolecules using tailor-made organic ligands ofMn, Fe, Ni, Cu and Zn-containing non-hemeproteins; (iii) radical-coordinated transition metalcomplexes and half-sandwich organometalliccomplexes of pyridyl/ pyrazole/ imidazole/ aliphaticamine/ phenol-containing bidentate/tridentatechelating ligands, the latter to investigate nucleophilic additionreactions with Ru(II)-coordinated benzene; (iv) coordinationpolymers including homochiral metal-organic frameworks; (v)water oxidation relevant to photosystem II, aromatic ringhydroxylation for tyrosinase-like activity, fixation of atmosphericcarbon dioxide to carbonate; (vi) study of noncovalent interactions,such as, C-H···Cl, N-H···Cl, O-H···Cl, π···π, C-H···π etc. J. N.Moorthy in the same department is using intermolecularinteractions to control molecular reactivity in the solid state, and todevelop crystalline materials that exhibit unique properties. Basedon crystal structures of aromatic carboxylic acids and amides, heargues that “the presence of weakly interacting groups candecisively modify the molecular association of strongly interactingfunctional groups” (J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2002, 124, 6530). Weak C-H···O/X interactions direct the conformation and photoreactivity inthe solid state of o-alkylaldehydes.

Several of the above themes are reflected in the research program ofK. Biradha at IIT, Kharagpur. His group has built MOF’s (metal-organic frameworks) of exotic topologies, such as one-dimensionalchains with cavities, two-dimensional open and interpenetrated(4,4)-networks, and three-dimensional networks of 658 and quartz

Weakinteractionsdirect theuncommonhelicalcatemer ofcarboxylgroups inhalogenatedmesitoicacids (J.N.Moorthy).

topologies (Chem. Comm., 2005, 2229).Porosity, guest/ ion exchange, networktransformations give an idea of thestability and robustness of theseframeworks assembled via metal-ligandand amide-amide bonds. What is the effectof a particular functional group when it ispresent in the presence of several others?He examines “structural interference”between supramolecular synthons tocorrelate molecular crystal structure. Incrystal structures of diamides containingthe pyridine group, interference frompyridyl N is minimal in the formation of N-H···O bonded β-sheetand 2D-layers (Cryst. Growth Des., 2007, 7, 1318). The synthesisof co-crystals via heterosynthons is another project in his group.Co-crystals of 4,4'-bipyridine with chiral or racemic bis-β-naphthols include guest molecules. Extending these ideas, arylsulfonates make synthons similar to carboxylic acids with pyridinepartners.

P. Mathur’s research in IIT Mumbai is on the synthesis oforganometallic and mixed-metal clusters and of metal ioncomplexes of carbohydrates and calixarenes. He works on thedesigned construction of metal cluster compounds by using lonepairs of single atom ligands for addition to coordinativelyunsaturated metal carbonyl fragments. He studies nonlinear opticalactivity of novel mixed-metal and mixed-chalcogen clusters. Thismethodology is extended to the incorporation of organic fragmentsin chalcogen-bridged metal carbonyl clusters for reactivitymodulation. Biomimetic chemistry of essential metal ions providesmeans to design systems for ion and molecular recognition in C.P.Rao’s group, in this institute. Understanding the binding of smallmolecules to proteins, e.g. lectins, and their inhibitory role towardsglycosidases is one of their goals.

At the U. of Hyderabad, A. Nangia ispursuing studies in crystal engineering andpolymorphism. Inter-halogen interactionsand the Piedfort Unit trigonal symmetryare matched to construct tubular and cagearchitecture for guest inclusion (Cryst.Growth Des., 2007, 7, 393). Guest-freeforms of host materials, whichinfrequently yield single crystals for X-raydiffraction, were crystallized by solvent-free melt and sublimation procedures.Extending the utility of crystallization athigh temperature his group discovered anovel, stable polymorph of venlafaxine hydrochloride (Effexor,Wyeth), a top-selling anti-depressant drug, by solid-to-solid phasetransition at ca. 180°C. To understand the origin of high Z’ incrystal structures, Nangia’s group analyzed O-H···O and C-H···Ohydrogen bond geometry in polymorphic crystals of variable Z’ andfound that there is a 70% correlation between high Z’ and strongerH bonds (CrystEngComm 2007, 9, 980-983). Apart from the acid-

Honeycomb network ofpyridinium andsulfonate synthons insulfanilate.4,4’-bipyridinium.2H2O (K.Biradha).

2-Butanone guest in thecarbon-walled nanotubeof lattice inclusion host(A. Nangia).

pyridine synthon mentioned earlier, co-crystals of amide type drugswith pyridine-N-oxide partners were shown to form reproducibly.

In IISc, T. N. Guru Row has established a program for mapping ofelectron densities in crystals to obtain insights into the nature ofchemical bonding. This development has been possible onlybecause of the increasing number and availability of CCD detectorsand low temperature facilities. The significance of charge densityresults have been analysed to obtain insights into the nature ofintermolecular contacts such as C-H···O, C-H···π, π···π, C-H···S andS···S (Cryst. Rev., 2005, 11, 199; Acta Cryst. B., 2006, 62, 118). Theappearance of a “region of overlap” to segregate hydrogen bondsfrom van der Waals interactions has been identified.

In the CSIR labs, P. Dastidar, formerly at the Central Salt andMarine Chemicals Research Inst., Bhavnagar (now at IACS) hasbeen working on the crystal engineering of organic and inorganicmaterials. The goal is to understand the structural basis of gelationby studying supramolecular synthons in crystals. Organic gelatorshave potential application in containing oil spills. They demonstratesupramolecular and structural diversities in metal-organicframeworks (MOFs) as a function of the ligating topology and thehydrogen bonding backbone and its use in anion control andrecognition. In a remarkable discovery last year, near-sphericalcrystals of common salt, NaCl, were grown by an ingenious methodof recycling glycine, a crystal habit modifier. Their research paperin Cryst. Growth Des. 2007, 7, 205 was listed in the section “Yearin Ideas - 2006” by The New York Times.

In NCL, Pune, M.M. Bhadbhade is studying hydrogen bonding,crystal packing and polymorphism in inositols. Diastereomers of2,4(6)-di-O-benzoyl-6(4)-O-[(1S)-10-camphorsulfonyl]-myo-inositol 1,3,5-orthoformate associate via C-H···O interactions anddo not leave voids for guest inclusion whereas association viaS=O···C=O bridges produced pseudopolymorphs. A guest-free formI (P21) and solvated forms II and III (P21 and C2) were crystallizedand characterized by X-ray diffraction. Selective inclusion inchannels is of potential application in separation science (Cryst.Growth Des., 2005, 5, 833; see also Aitipamula and Nangia, Chem.Eur. J., 2005, 11, 6727). S=O···C=O dipolar short contacts, apersistent interaction in these structures, is relevant to the bindingof sulfonyl drugs to the C=O moiety of receptor proteins.Continuing in the same series, myo-inositol hexabenzoate of mesoconfiguration gave a resolved polymorph (Form I, P61) whencrystallized rapidly but yielded a centrosymmetric polymorph(Form II, P-1) by slow crystallization (Chem. Commun., 2004,2530). Additionally, Bhadbhade has begun analysis of halogenbonding by charge density. Using a patented technology developedby V. Puranik, Asomex-2.5, the first chirally pure anti-hypertensivedrug was launched in the Indian market by EmcurePharmaceuticals.

Apart from the groups mentioned above, M.S. Hundal at GuruNanak Dev U., Amritsar is studying hydrogen bonding betweenmetal-organic frameworks and anions in helical chains, staircasecoordination polymers, and self-assembled supramolecular

structures. Additionally, structural chemistry is being pursued at U.and Panjab U., Chandigarh. It is believed that the quantity andquality of work in crystal engineering from India will increasegreatly in the coming years.

Professor G.R. Desiraju

Gautam R. Desiraju is Professor ofChemistry at the U. of Hyderabad. Hereceived his B.Sc. at the U. of Bombayand was awarded a Ph.D. from the U. ofIllinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1976. Hehas published 300 research papers in theareas of crystal engineering, solid-statesupramolecular chemistry, organometalliccrystal structures, database analysis,hydrogen bonding with special referenceto weak hydrogen bonds, ligand–protein interactions, crystalstructure prediction, polymorphism and pseudopolymorphism. Thetopic of crystal engineering would have remained a specializedchapter in structural chemistry dealing with solid-statetopochemical reactions but for his single author monographentitled, Crystal Engineering: The Design of Organic Solids in1989. His broad definition of the term crystal engineering as “theunderstanding of intermolecular interactions in the context ofcrystal packing and the utilisation of such understanding in thedesign of new solids with desired physical and chemical properties”is now widely accepted in chemistry and materials science. Crystalengineering has grown very rapidly during the last decade.Following his keynote talk in the Seattle IUCr Congress in 1996, itbecame a microsymposium topic in these congresses. Two newjournals were launched in the late 1990s—CrystEngComm in 1999and Crystal Growth & Design in 2000—he being associated withboth from their inception. Gautam Desiraju established the role ofweak intermolecular interactions in crystals, such as C–H···O, C–H···N, N–H···π, halogen···halogen, in a series of reviews (Acc.Chem. Res., 2002, 35, 565; Acc. Chem. Res., 1996, 29, 441; Acc.Chem. Res. 1991, 24, 290; Acc. Chem. Res. 1986, 19, 222). Heshowed that what is often more significant for structure design andprediction are not the individual interactions but rather patternscomposed of two or more interactions, often as cyclic motifs.Supramolecular synthons are structural units within supermoleculesthat can be formed or assembled by known or conceivableintermolecular interactions (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. 1995, 34,2311). His innovative ideas and research over the last three decades(see selected highlights), often establishing connections betweenindependent disciplines (Chem. Commun., 2005, 2995), has openednew streams of thought and he has academically inspired ageneration of young scientists. He has been honored withFellowships of the three most important science academies in India.He is a fellow of the Academy of Science for the Developing World(TWAS) and the Royal Society of Chemistry. He is currently co-editor of Acta Crystallographica and a member of the ExecutiveCommittee of the IUCr. He is a recipient of the Humboldt Research

Award, the TWAS Award for chemistry and the Michael VisitingProfessorship of the Weizmann Inst. of Science. He is an honorarymember of the Hungarian Chemical Society and was recognized asa Thomson Scientific Citation Laureate in 2006.

Bioinformatics, database development anddrug discovery

A natural inclination of the Indian mind is to try to find commonthreads linking diverse facets of life, and from the earliest days ofthe Ramachandran plot this inclination has led to India being afertile ground for attempts to decipher patterns hidden in the vastamounts of data generated by crystallography. The concept of weakhydrogen bonding, exemplified by interactions such as C-H∙∙∙O andX-H∙∙∙π, was greatly extended by G.R. Desiraju (U. of Hyderabad;Chem. Comm., 1989, 179) using the CSD, and is now being appliedto understand the stability of protein folds and their interactionswith ligands (V. Pattabhi, Chennai, Acta Cryst., 1997, D53, 316; P.Chakrabarti, Bose Inst., Kolkata, J. Mol. Biol., 1998, 284, 867; S.Ramakumar, IISc, Acta Cryst., 1990, A46, 455). Likewise, theconcept of aromatic···aromatic interactions has been invoked tounderstand the relative orientations between planar side chains inproteins. With the increasing availability of high resolutionstructures in the Protein Data Bank there are many groups pursuingstructural bioinformatics to understand the structure and function ofmacromolecules at the molecular level. The topics include analysisof side chain rotamers (V. Sasisekharan, M. Vijayan, IISc), localstructures in proteins (C. Ramakrishnan, IISc), side chain influenceon main chain conformation (P. Chakrabarti, Prog. Biophys. Mol.Biol., 2001, 76, 1), clustering of residues and its implication inprotein thermostability (S. Vishveshwara, IISc). The stereochemicalmodeling of disulfide bridges (C. Ramakrishnan, P. Balaram,Protein Eng., 1993, 6, 873) is now an important component ofstrategies to enhance protein stability. In addition, other databaseslike PALI, SUPFAM (IISc), DDBase, SMoS (NCBS), porins andprophages (S. Krishnaswamy, MKU), lectins (IISc), conformationalangles (IISc), and secondary structural motifs (Bose Inst., NII,CCMB) facilitate efficient analysis. New algorithms and machinelearning approaches have been explored in a variety of situations:application of mutually orthogonal Latin square sampling in proteinstructure prediction (N. Gautham, Chennai) and graph theoreticalapproaches for understanding and classifying protein structurenetworks (IISc and IIT, Mumbai).

At the DNA level, the variations in oligonucleotide crystals (M.Bansal, IISc), and the location of water molecules and theirimplication for DNA function (B. Jayaram, IIT, Delhi) have beenrationalized. A. S. Kolaskar in U. of Poona has designed selectiveinhibitors for P. Falciparum aspartic proteases through in silicoapproaches (Frontiers Biophys., 2005, 168). In Hyderabad,modelling tools such as virtual screening, pharmacophoregeneration, molecular dynamics and QSAR have been used tounderstand the binding of drugs to macromolecules by G.R.Desiraju, U. of Hyderabad, J.A.R.P. Sarma, GVKBio, and B.

Gopalakrishnan, Tata Consultancy Services, TCS, (J. Chem. Inf.Model., 2005, 45, 725). A software package has been developed toanalyze weak hydrogen bonds in biological structures (Proteins,2007, 67, 128). A recent exercise sponsored by the CSIR involvedTCS (M. Vidyasagar, S. Mande) with more than 20 academicpartners, and resulted in an entire software platform (Bio-suite)which is now being successfully marketed by TCS (Curr. Sci.,2007, 29). Bio-suite provides tools for predicting biologicalactivities, and for studying binding energy patterns amongfunctionalities. There are now specialized webservers and databasesdealing with protein domain superfamilies and spatially interactingmotifs, (R. Sowdhamini, NCBS, N. Srinivasan, IISc).

Crystallographyintroduced the Indianscientific communityto the “databaseculture”. During thelast decade, India haswitnessed a rapidgrowth in thepharmaceutical sectorbecause of off-shoringfrom abroad. Besideshelping organizationslike Chemical Abstracts Services (CAS) and Beilstein in creatingand managing their databases, many smaller players in India havestarted developing their own databases. GVK Biosciences inHyderabad (J.A.R.P. Sarma, www.gvkbio.com) is notable in thisregard and has captured much information, which exists in a moreor less disorganized fashion in the public domain, converting theminto value added databases for the international pharmaceuticalindustry (MediChem, kinases, toxicity, clinical candidates,metabolism toxicities, natural products). Multiple advantages maybe envisaged from these databases. In particular, they may be usedin virtual screening in drug discovery. Strategic and committedcollaborations from companies abroad (DuPont, Wyeth, Novartis)ensure that these early initiatives will succeed and much furtherprogress is expected.

Powder diffraction and industrialcrystallography

Applications of X-ray diffraction in the Indian pharmaceuticalindustry began in the early 1990s. With the current extreme interestin solid forms of active pharmaceutical ingredients (API),especially with the application of crystal engineering methods topolymorphs, pseudopolymorphs, multi-component crystals (“co-crystals”), mixed phases and amorphous forms, it is no wonder thatseveral academic and industrial groups are seriously engaged indevelopment and application of the powder diffraction techniques(PXRD). Different polymorphs exhibit different physical and/orchemical properties such as solubility, bioactivity, bioavailability,physicochemical, formulation and processing parameters as well as

Research building of GVKBio in Hyderabad.Inset: Medicinal chemistry laboratory.

the shelf life of the drug substance and formulated product.Therefore, understanding and controlling the solid-state propertiesof APIs, both as pure drug substances and in formulated products,is an important aspect of the drug development process. Theenforcement of TRIPS (trade related aspects of intellectual propertyrights) agreements since 2005 has caused a paradigm shift inIndia’s bulk and formulation oriented pharmaceutical industry.Indian generic companies will now need to compete with themultinationals by focusing on drug development and produce theirown patented products. It is realized that intellectual property issuescan only be addressed by careful screening of drugs for the absenceof forms patented by other companies. Another important aspect inthis area is the determination of crystal structures from PXRD databecause growing single crystals has been difficult for some APIs.For example, T. N. Guru Row (IISc) and A. Mukherjee (Jadavpur)are collaborating with Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories (K. Vyas;Hyderabad) to develop methodologies for ab initio structuresolution packages from PXRD data. A. Nangia (in collaborationwith G. Kruger in South Africa) has made interesting contributionspertaining to discovery of new drug polymorphs and co-crystalsusing variable temperature PXRD (Chem. Asian. J., 2007, 2, 505).Other Indian pharmaceutical companies such as Alembic(Vadodara), Orchid, Shasun (Chennai), Sun (Vadodara), Torrent(Ahmedabad), Ranbaxy (Delhi), Lupin (Pune), Cadila (Bangalore)and Aurobindo, Suven, Matrix, Hetero (Hyderabad) are activelyinvolved in these efforts. A measure of the success of the Indianpharmaceutical industry in this area may be seen in the increasingnumber of Para IV filings that are being concluded successfully inthe U.S. law courts.

Crystal growth and diffraction physics

A centre for crystal growth was established in NPL (K. Lal) in the1970s and continues to make several contributions. Many whiskercrystals were grown and investigated with a high resolution X-rayLaue technique. X-ray diffraction topography was used to confirmthe absence of screw dislocations in ZnS whiskers. Also studiedwere Al2O3, garnet and semiconductors. Also developed was a newhigh-resolution technique and a three-crystal X-ray diffractometerto investigate diffuse X-ray scattering from nearly perfect singlecrystals very close to reciprocal lattice points. With this set up itwas possible for the first time, to make diffuse X-ray scattering(DXS) measurements on Si single crystals very close to thediffraction peaks having a half width of only ~ 5 arc sec. This DXStechnique is now a powerful non-destructive tool to characterizepoint defects and their clusters in nearly perfect crystals. Highresolution methods were also used to study thin diamond crystalshaving varying degrees of perfection. It was shown that point defectclusters are obtained with sizes in the range 40-190 nm. Techniquesof defect measurement are closely related to crystal growthmethods, and naturally these methodologies have developed inparallel in the NPL group. Crystal growth facilities have also beenestablished in Mysore (K. Byrappa) where there is a focus onhydrothermal methods and in BARC (J.S. Yakhmi) where large

alkali halide crystals have been grown for applications in nuclearradiation detection.

T.R. Anantharaman (BHU), with his students P. Rama Rao and S.Lele, established an active school in the field of X-ray line profileanalysis in the 1960s. This technique may be used to study thediffuse streaking which is observed in the X-ray diffraction ofmaterials which have random distributions of stacking faults (J.Appl. Cryst., 1987, 20, 84). The presence of such faults leads tocharacteristic peak broadening and/or peak shifts of powderdiffraction profiles (G.B. Mitra, IIT Kharagpur; S.P. Sen Gupta,IACS). Indian contributions to the theoretical aspects of this field(S. Lele, D. Pandey, BHU), especially the introduction of theconcept of non-random faulting when stacking faults bring aboutphase transformation from one layer stacking to another, arenoteworthy. Other contributions by D. Pandey are the use of X-raydiffraction in the field of doped quantum paraelectrics,morphotropic phase transitions and ferroelectric transitions.

Dr. K. Lal

Dr. Krishan Lal(National PhysicalLab, Delhi), is one ofthe leaders of physicalcrystallography inIndia, and he hasestablished a veryactive laboratory forgrowth of wellcharacterized highquality single crystalsand investigations ofreal structure of singlecrystals, thin films,interfaces and devices. He has contributed significantly to thedesign of new instrumentation for high resolution work, studies ofelectric field induced microstructural changes in crystals andaccurate measurements of crystal surfaces and interiors. Heobtained his early training with A. R. Verma and went on toestablish his independent research in NPL. Among the highlights ofhis work is the crystal growth of nearly perfect crystals using theCzochralski technique. He developed very accurate techniques formeasurement of dielectric constants and dielectric loss of singlecrystals. By using these, effect of impurities and defects ondielectric constants of sapphire and gadolinium gallium garnetcrystals could be experimentally demonstrated. Under Dr. Lal’sleadership a co-ordinated project with 30 national laboratories hassuccessfully planned, prepared and distributed Indian CertifiedReference Materials. Already, 25 CRMs have been prepared in thisstrategically important initiative. Dr. Lal has been deeply involvedat the national and the international levels in activities related tohigh quality data for science and technology. He is presentlyPresident of CODATA the Committee for Data in Science and

F. C. Frank in the laboratory of K. Lal. In thebackground is A. R. Verma.

Technology of ICSU for 2006-2010. He served as President of theIndian Crystallographic Assn (2004-07) and as an editor of Z. Krist.between 1997-2003.

Quasicrystals

The advent of quasicrystals as an ordered but aperiodicarrangement of atoms in the solid state saw several innovativeresearch results originating from India. K. Chattopadhyay and S.Ranganathan (IISc) discovered a new type of quasicrystalline phaseknown as the decagonal phase (Acta Metall., 1987, 35, 727).Together with S. Lele (BHU) they analyzed vacancy ordered phasesas an example of one dimensional quasicrystals. P RamachandraRao and G.V. S. Sastry (BHU) blazed a new path in the synthesis ofquasicrystals by rapid solidification of Mg-Zn-Al alloy. C.Suryanarayana (BHU) discovered polytypism in quasicrystals. S.Lele and R.K. Mandal (BHU) were the first to postulate theexistence of pentagonal quasicrystals. Using Pettifor maps,Ranganathan also provided new insight by demonstrating that allquasicrystals are either binary or pseudobinary. Other notablecontributions came from J.A. Sekhar and T. Rajasekharan (DefenceMetallurgical Research Lab., Hyderabad), and from S. Banerjee,G.K. Dey, U.D. Kulkarni and R. Chidambaram in BARC.

However, India missed some opportunities in this area. Early workof T.R. Anantharaman on Mn-Ga alloys and G. V.S. Sastry and C.Suryanarayana (BHU) on Al-Pd alloys came tantalizingly close tothe discovery of quasicrystals.

Liquid crystals

S. Chandrasekhar (RRI, Bangalore) made a seminal discovery in1977 on a new type of liquid crystal made of stacked disc-likemolecules (Pramana, 1977, 9, 471). These columnar or discoticliquid crystals have since become an important branch of research,and 2D lattices with hexagonal, and different types of rectangulararrangements have been found. X-ray scattering studies have beenuseful in identifying these phases and also other smectic andnematic phases. Studies by N. Madhusudana and R. Pratibha in RRI(Curr. Sci., 1997, 73, 761) and by C. Manohar in BARC havedelineated the transformations between these phases. A veryunusual skew-cybotactic (smecticC-like) arrangement whichexhibits fibre-like patterns of molecules tilted with respect to thelocal layer-normal have been discovered in some specialcompounds (U. Deniz, BARC). If the molecules are chiral, theliquid crystalline compound often exhibits a superstructure at themicrometer scale. Many mesogenic rod-like and disk-likecompounds can also be crystallised from solution and V.A.Raghunathan (RRI) has found new types of molecular organisationbased on such systematic X-ray studies.

Neutron scattering facilities

A national facility for neutron beam research, designed anddeveloped indigenously is operated in BARC, Mumbai (R.Mukhopadhyay; S.L. Chaplot). The facility has been built aroundthe research reactor Dhruva that uses natural uranium as fuel andheavy water as both moderator and coolant. At present, a four-circlesingle-crystal diffractometer, three powder diffractometers, a high-Q diffractometer, a polarization analysis spectrometer, a triple-axisspectrometer, a filter detector spectrometer, and a quasi-elasticscattering spectrometer are located inside the reactor hall on variousbeam ports. Two neutron guide tubes, G1 and G2 withcharacteristic wavelengths 3.0 Å and 2.2 Å respectively, transportneutron beams into the Guide-Tube Lab. from the reactor hall. Theaverage flux at the breaks, provided on the guides to accommodatevarious instruments, is ~107 neutrons/cm2/s. Two small-angleneutron scattering instruments and a polarized neutronreflectometer are operational at G2 one after another. A spin-echocum polarised neutron small-angle instrument has also beencommissioned recently at G1.

Synchrotron facilities

Two synchrotron sources, Indus-1 (450MeV) and Indus-2 (2.5GeV), were planned and designed by the Atomic EnergyCommission Govt of India as national facilities at Raja RamannaCentre for Advanced Technology at Indore. Of these, Indus-1 witha critical wavelength of 61 Å has been commissioned and isroutinely operated at the design current of 100 mA. The beamlifetime achieved at 100 mA is 75 minutes. This vacuumultraviolet/ soft X-ray source is used by various research groups inthe country. Indus-2 with a critical wavelength of ~2 Å is in theprocess of being made operational. The Indian effort to acquireindigenous synchrotron capabilities has been long and arduous,even as it has been well-meaning. With rapid changes in theinternational scientific scenario, there is a real sense of urgency inhaving ready access to state-of-the-art synchrotron facilities bymacromolecular, small molecule and industrial crystallographers.Reference has already been made to the fact that a whole generationof Indian crystallographers were enfeebled in the past because ofthe general absence of single crystal diffractometers between 1975and 1995. It is sincerely hoped that the same scenario will not berepeated in another context.

National Committee for Crystallography

ICSU activities in India were brought under the banner of theIndian National Science Academy, INSA (then known as NationalInst. of Science India) in 1968. The first and second NationalCommittees appointed by INSA were chaired by G.N.Ramachandran. Subsequent chairs were A.R. Verma, S.

Ramaseshan, N.N. Saha, R. Chidambaram, M.A. Viswamitra, S.P.Sen Gupta, K.K. Kannan, K. Lal, O.N. Srivastava and S.K. Sikka.In 2004, the National Committees of IUCr and IUPAB were mergedon an experimental basis with M. Vijayan as chair. This committeewill be demerged in 2008, and a new National Committee forCrystallography with P. Chakrabarti as chair (members K. Byrappa,S. K. Halder, A. Nangia, C. G. Suresh) will assume responsibility inJanuary 2008. The National Committee has consistently played amajor role in the collective activities of the crystallographiccommunity in India and in its liaison with the IUCr.

Recognition by IUCr to the Indian crystallographic community hascome in the form of the Ewald Prize to G.N. Ramachandran, theelections of S. Ramaseshan and R. Chidambaram as vice-presidents, and of G.R. Desiraju as a member of the currentexecutive committee. P. Krishna, has been a former Chairman ofthe Commission on Crystallographic Teaching. M. Vijayan, aformer Chairman of the Commission on BiologicalMacromolecules is president of the Asian CrystallographicAssociation (AsCA) till the end of 2007. G.R. Desiraju, M.R.N.Murthy, D. Pandey and M. Vijayan have served as past or presentco-editors of Acta Cryst.

Indian Crystallographic Association

The Indian

Crystallographic Association (ICA) was established in 2000-2001,fulfilling a long-felt need in the Indian crystallographic communityfor a professional association. One of its first activities was toorganise the AsCA meeting in Bangalore in 2001. The ICA(iris.physics.iisc.ernet.in/ica/) currently comprises more than 350members, whose research interests cover the entire gamut ofcrystallography-related disciplines. These include materials science,biology, chemistry, mathematics, and physics. Geographically, theICA membership covers the entire country. Historically, and in theabsence of a crystallographic association, the National Committeeof Crystallography was responsible for all collective activity.Increasingly now, the ICA is co-ordinating academic and scientificactivities, while the national committee, in its capacity as theaccredited body of INSA, is liaising with the IUCr. Accordingly,the national meetings, which evolved from the Madras meetings,are now the responsibility of the ICA rather than of the nationalcommittee. The ICA council of 15 members (see photograph) iselected by the general body for a three-year term.

ICA Council members and special invitees at a meeting inINSA, New Delhi on August 9, 2007. From left: N. Goswami(Joint Secretary), J.K. Dattagupta (President), Rajnikant, K.Lal, M. Vijayan, T.N. Guru Row (Vice-President), D.M.Salunke, K. Sekar (Treasurer), N. Gautham (Secretary), G.R.Desiraju, M.V. Hosur, B. Das, A. Nangia (Editor).

Comings and goings

The past 60 years have seenseveral interesting trends withrespect to students and scientistsmoving between India andforeign countries, notably theUSA and the UK. These eventsalso convey much informationwith respect to the Indianpresence, or the lack of it, in theinternational context.Crystallographers settled inIndia have obtained theirdoctoral degrees both in Indiaand abroad, but the former group predominates numerically. Largenumbers of Indian students emigrate to the USA either before orjust after their Ph.D.; a few have made a distinct mark in theircountry of adoption: G. Kartha (Roswell Park), J. Kuriyan (U.C.Berkeley), V. Ramakrishnan (MRC Cambridge). In an interestingaside, S.N. Rao (U. of Central Oklahoma) is widely acknowledgedas one of the most successful treasurers of the AmericanCrystallographic Association. More in the context of times to come,a number of youngsters from foreign countries have pursueddoctoral and post-doctoral studies in India. Stefka Peneva, fromSofia, Bulgaria received her Ph.D. in 1970 from U. of Delhi,working with K. Lal, while Michael Kirchner from Essen,Germany, who was the recipient of the prestigious Lynenfellowship of the Alexander von Humboldt foundation, carried outpost-doctoral work with G.R. Desiraju in Hyderabad in 2003-04.The growing academic significance of Indian laboratories, coupledwith the rapid improvements in the economic conditions in India,ensure that the number of foreign scholars in India will increasesignificantly. Already, there are initiatives through governmentsponsored projects and organisations like the Academy of Sciencesfor the Developing World (TWAS) and Human Frontiers of ScienceProgram (HFSP) to aid in the movement of young crystallographersfrom anywhere in the world to India.K. Biradha, P. Chakrabarti, N. Chandra, J. K. Datta Gupta,N. Gautham, T.N. Guru Row, K.V.R. Kishan, P. Krishna, K.Lal, S.C. Mande, N. Madhusudana, D. Pandey, S.Ranganathan, S.N. Rao, J.A.R.P. Sarma, M. Vijayan, K.Vyas and V.K. Wadhawan, Edited by: A. Nangia, D.M.Salunke, V. Pattabhi and G.R. Desiraju.

The International Union of Crystallography is a non­profit scientific union serving the world­wide interests ofcrystallographers and other scientists employing crystallographic methods.

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Pleased editors of the special issue atthe end of their assignment inHyderabad. From left: A. Nangia,G.R. Desiraju and V. Pattabhi. Thefourth editor D.M. Salunke was notpresent on this occasion.