Gopalasamudran Narayana Iyer Ramachandran, Indian structural biologist and crystallographer (Ernakluam, Kerala State 08 October 1922 – Chennai 07 April 2001)

Authored 250 publications

ACHIEVEMENTS

Regarded as one of founders of molecular biophysics

With W.A.Wooster proposed a length unit in yards for scanning and assessing generally any structure mainly polypeptides  

With Wooster first determinated the elastic constants of cubic crystals from diffuse x-ray reflections (1949)

With Gopinath Kartha proposed the triple helical structure of collagen molecule introducing the concept of coiled-coil structure (1954)

Discovered bridge regions in biological molecules, a region bridging α-helical and β-sheet conformations known as Ramachandran bridges

With S. Raman derived the correct formula for calculating phase angles from Bijvoet differences in A new method for the structure analysis of non-centro-symmetric crystals. Curr. Sci. 25:348-51, 1956

Applied Fourier transforms and anomalous dispersion to methods of structure analysis

Developed a novel Fourier method for structural analysis in crystallography

Gave contribution on the use of anomalous dispersion in phase determination in x-ray structure analysis (1956)

With R. Srinivasan. A new statistical test for distinguishing between centrosymmetric and non-centrosymmetric structures. Acta Crystal. 12:410-1, 1959

With C. Ramakrishnan & V. Sasisekharan developed Ramachandran plot or map (1963)

Setted the rules that govern the conformation of polysaccharides (1963)

With A.V. Lakshininarayana developed convolution-backprojection algorithm used in x-ray tomography (1971)

Developed a x-ray focusing mirror for the x-ray microscope

Developed a new Boolean algebra vector matrix formalism (1976)

Real Atom Grid Approximation (RAGA) – a new technique of crystal structure analysis using only amplitudes without determination of phases of reflections. Acta Cryst. A 46:359-65, 1990

Developed methods for solving conformation or molecular architecture of proteins and others biopolymers 

Introduced the term topograph in crystallography

Eponym of Ramachandran angles  

HONORS

Ewald Prize, International Union of Crystallography (1999)

Asteroid Ramachandran 20851

Chemistry Nobel Prize nominee (1964) 

LINKS

http://rsbm.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/51/367.full.pdf+html