British-Indian Shankar Balasubramanian Felicitated at New Year Honours

British-Indian Shankar Balasubramanian Felicitated at New Year Honours

An Indian-origin British professor of chemistry, Shankar Balasubramanian, received a Knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II for his contribution to the field of science and medicine at the New Year Honours announced on December 30, 2016. Sir Shankar Balasubramanian  is an Indian-born British chemist and Herchel Smith Professor of Medicinal Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry the University of Cambridge. 50-year-old Balasubramanian, was recognised for his work as a co-inventor of Next Generation DNA sequencing, described as the most transformational advance in biology and medicine for decades. Presently known as Solexa sequencing, it allows an individual genome to be sequenced in a day or two at a cost of less than 1,000 pounds. Previously, sequencing the human genome took years of work and cost billions. His work has laid an entirely new discipline of Bioinformatics.