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The study of the biochemical functions of living beings. Which dates back to at least the time of Hippocrates? Now touches all areas of the life sciences. The history of this study most familiar to the layman as well as the scientist is that of individual minds and great discoveries. But how has the field of science we now call biochemistry emerged from its roots in physiology and chemistry as a distinct discipline, with a separate scientific community and body of established knowledge? How has the direction of its study been guided in the past, and what are its prospects for the future. In this volume, 10 prominent scientists offer perspectives and insights from the fields of physiology, plant biology, microbiology, genetics, biophysics, molecular biology, immunology and biotechnology to answer these questions with regard to India. They examine not only the major discoveries, developments and research that shaped the direction of the discipline, but also the research groups and institutions that made them possible. This comprehensive analysis includes the role and influence of various funding agencies; the establishment of formal training programmers, university departments and research institutions; and the founding of professional societies for furthering the progress of various fields of research. In the course of this study, the volume also considers issues such as the ethical implications of new developments in biotechnology, and the practical applications of research in agriculture, medicine, forensics, industry, etc. Reflecting the immense and varied scope of the subject, this exhaustive volume offers a prospect of a vast and evolving field with an increasingly influential and important presence in India—that will interest students, researchers and teachers of biology, chemistry and biochemistry, as well as those interested in the history of scientific developments in the country