Organizing Committee Member
Krishna Dronamraju
President
Foundation for Genetic Research Houston,Texas
USA
Biography
The Foundation for Genetic Research in Houston was founded in 1992 by Dr. Krishna Dronamraju, who is the President and Director of the Foundation. Previous advisors to the Foundation include Sir Arthur C. Clarke, well known author of many books in science and science fiction; Dr. Victor McKusick, M.D., Chairman of the Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Current advisors include Prof. M.S. Swaminathan, Advisor to the Prime Minister, and Chairman of the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation in Chennai, India; and Prof. N.A. Mitchison, at the University of London, U.K.. Dr. Dronamraju has been nominated for the Nobel Prize. He was a member of the U.S. Presidential delegation led by President Bill Clinton to India in 2000. Dr. Dronamraju received his Ph.D. in Genetics for research under the direction of the famous scientist J.B.S. Haldane, who is well known as a polymath, a founder of population genetics, and as a prolific author of numerous popular scientific essays. Dr. Dronamraju is the author of 20 books and 200 papers in genetics, biotechnology, and the History of Science. Many of his books were concerned with the life and scientific work of J.B.S. Haldane. Dr. Dronamraju was an Advisor to the U.S. Government as a member of the two National Advisory Committees in Health and Agriculture in Washington D.C. He is an Invited Professor of the University of Paris, France, Honorary Professor of the Albert Schweitzer International University, Geneva, and an Honorary Research Fellow of the University of London. He is also an Honorary Visiting Professor of Andhra University in India. He was awarded the Nayudamma Prize in Science and Technology in 1997. The Foundation for Genetic Research has been engaged in promoting Science Cooperation between USA and India. Over the last several years, the Foundation has served many functions, preparing and publishing books in genetics and scientific biography, advising US Government and Indian Government, and most of all arranging international conferences in science, technology, and intellectual property rights. Special attention is paid to recognize the intellectual property rights (IPR) of the tribal groups of India and the contributions of tribal men and women to the conservation of food crops and medicinal plants of India.
Research Area
Dronamraju's research focused on the history of genetics and human/medical genetics, resulting in the publication of several books, especially with reference to the contributions of his mentor J.B.S. Haldane. Dronamraju�s contribution to the mechanisms of Speciation in plants and plant-pollinator interaction, and also the pollinating behavior of butterflies is considered quite significant. His research papers on the visits of several species of Lepidoptera to different colored flowers of Lantana camara reported the discovery of a species-specific pattern of color preference behavior by pollinating insects. This indicated the possibility that reproductive isolating mechanisms in plants could result from the behavior of pollinators, leading to sympatric speciation which was considered unlikely by some leading experts such as Ernst Mayr until then. These papers created a sensation among biologists.