Science Serving Society

WHEN SCIENCE IS EMPLOYED AS A TOOL TO HELP HUMANKIND, IT BECOMES A CATALYST FOR LASTING CHANGE. AND FOR GIRIRAJ RATAN CHANDAK, FORMER CHIEF SCIENTIST AND SIR JC BOSE FELLOW AT CSIR-CCMB, SERVICE IS THE MISSION. HE SPEAKS ABOUT HIS STARTUP LIGHTENING LIVES LLP, INDIAN GENETICS, THE 'DESIGNER BABIES' TREND, AND MORE

- NITIKA KRISHNA

brain passionate about science can do wonders for the world. While many young people diligently ace their science exams, few have a larger-than-life goal. They wonder, 'What should I do with all this knowledge?' Well, for Giriraj Ratan Chandak, former chief scientist and Sir JC Bose Fellow at the CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CSIR-CCMB), the answer was always within: a passion that lies in combining genetics with patient care and translating that knowledge into public health impact. "I have always felt a deep responsibility to give back to society in whatever way I could," expresses Giriraj, who steers a startup called Lightening Lives LLP. In an insightful interview with CE, he speaks about his journey, startup, and more.

Excerpts

Tell us about your startup: what does it do, and what kind of impact are you hoping to make?

I have had a deeply satisfying career at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology. Yet, for a physician and scientist, the journey never truly ends. I realised there were many unfinished goals I still wished to pursue. To carry that vision forward, I founded a startup called Lightening Lives LLP. As the name suggests, the ethos is to 'light a lamp' in people's lives — whether by addressing genetic disorders, improving health, enabling treatments, or bringing hope in any possible way. Through this startup, our objective is to develop very simple, rapid, and affordable tests that can reach the most underserved sections of society. My years of work in genetic testing have confirmed that we are still only scratching the surface; with traditional approaches, barely 3-5% of patients undergo testing. The situation has only become more pressing with the rise of large-scale, high-throughput genetic testing, which often remains inaccessible to those who need it most.