Atanu Basu, 54, Virologist

The ICMR-National Institute of Virology in Pune houses India’s only biosafety level 4 (BSL-4) laboratory. Here is where, with the highest level of biocontainment precautions, the SARS-CoV-2 virus was first isolated from clinical samples obtained from the first three patients in Kerala who contracted the virus in Wuhan, China. It was thanks to this effort that as early as March 6th, with just a handful of reported cases, India deposited two sequences with the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID). NIV Deputy Director Atanu Basu’s lab produced the first transmission electron microscope image of the virus in the country—with the classic spikes we are now familiar with. The work, published in the Indian Journal of Medical Research, paved the way for research on drugs, vaccines and diagnostic tests in labs and pharma companies across the country.

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