John Barnabas

John Barnabas (1929–1994) was an Indian evolutionary biologist, known for his contributions in the fields of Molecular Systematics and Evolution. He was a member of the Science Advisory Committee to the cabinet as well as the Department of Biotechnology of the Government of India. A Jawaharlal Nehru Fellow, Barnabas was also an elected fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Indian National Science Academy and the National Academy of Sciences, India. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1974, for his contributions to biological sciences.

Biography Born on 12 October 1929 in Mangalore, a port city in the south Indian state of Karnataka, John Barnabas did his early schooling at local schools before graduating in science from the University of Madras. Moving to Mumbai, he obtained his master's degree from University of Bombay and joined the then newly started Ahmednagar College as a member of faculty in 1954. He also continued his researches and secured a PhD from University of Pune in 1956. He proposed novel methods by which the molecular structure is utilized in the measurement of evolutionary distance and the rate of change. His methods, based on parsimony analysis, assisted in developing phylogenetic trees and helped to understand the evolutionary history of different eukaryotic lineages. and several articles.

Barnabas contributed in the establishment of the department of biochemistry at Ahmednagar College in 1963, when he returned to the college after his post-doctoral stint abroad. Two years later, the University Grants Commission of India selected him as a National lecturer

Barnabas, who was a life member of the Society of Biological Chemists, India, presided the organization during 1985–86. INSA awarded him the Golden Jubilee Commemoration Medal in 1989. He was also a life member of the Society for Scientific Values, a member of the Guha Research Conference, a founder fellow of the Maharashtra Association for the Cultivation of Science and an elected fellow of the Institute of Chemical Technology (then known as University Department of Chemical Technology) and the National Academy of Sciences, India. The many award orations he delivered included Vyas Memorial Award Lectureship of the Association of Microbiologists of India (1986) and Salim Ali Memorial Lectureship Award of Indian Institute of Science.