Faculty members Balasubramanian Gopal (MBU) and Ambarish Ghosh (CeNSE) have received the prestigious 2025 Tata Transformation Prize in the Sustainability and Healthcare categories, respectively.
Established by Tata Sons and powered by the New York Academy of Sciences, the Tata Transformation Prize recognises high-risk, high-reward scientific breakthroughs that address India’s most pressing needs in Food Security, Sustainability, and Healthcare. Each year, the Prize celebrates three innovators whose work has the potential to deliver large-scale societal impact in India and beyond.
India’s biomanufacturing sector is growing rapidly, yet traditional chemical synthesis methods remain energy-intensive, costly, and environmentally damaging. Prof Gopal’s lab is tackling this challenge through a breakthrough green chemistry platform that uses bioengineered E. coli to sustainably produce key chemicals used across pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and agriculture. By integrating artificial intelligence with experimental biology, his team designs highly efficient enzymes, optimises microbial strains, and achieves high yields without relying on antibiotics or harmful additives. This innovation can significantly reduce pollution, enhance domestic production capacity, and position India as a future leader in clean, responsible biomanufacturing.
Prof Ghosh is pioneering a transformative approach to cancer therapy using magnetic nanorobots to navigate the human body with exceptional precision. Guided externally by magnetic fields, these nanorobots can traverse complex biological environments, deliver drugs directly to tumors, and differentiate cancerous cells from healthy tissue. His group is also developing real-time imaging and tracking systems to help clinicians steer these nanorobots during treatment. This technology promises targeted, minimally invasive cancer therapy with reduced side effects, lower treatment burden, and greater accessibility — an especially meaningful advance for low- and middle-income countries.
More details at: https://www.nyas.org/press-release/2025-tata-transformation-prize-recognizes-three-indian-scientists-driving-global-solutions-for-people-and-the-planet/
