Rediscovering Jeewanu: A Blast from India's Scientific Past
In the quiet labs of India's National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) in Bengaluru, a long-forgotten experiment from the 1960s is experiencing a remarkable revival. Jeewanu, Sanskrit for 'particles of life,' refers to microscopic spheres created by pioneering Indian chemists Krishna Bahadur and S. Ranganayaki. These protocell-like structures were once touted as a breakthrough in understanding how life might have emerged from non-living matter. Dismissed by skeptics decades ago, they are now back under the microscope—literally—thanks to a new study from NCBS researchers.
The story begins with Bahadur and Ranganayaki's bold claims that simple chemicals, zapped by sunlight, could self-organize into growing, metabolizing compartments mimicking early cells. Fast-forward to 2023, when Ph.D. student Nayan Chakraborty spotted familiar blue spheres in his setup, texting his advisor Shashi Thutupalli: 'Shashi, we have jeewanu in the lab!' After three years of rigorous work, their preprint paper details how these protocells form de novo from everyday chemicals, offering fresh clues to one of science's biggest puzzles: the origin of life.
The Pioneers Behind Jeewanu: Krishna Bahadur and S. Ranganayaki
Krishna Bahadur, a chemist at the University of Allahabad, and his wife and collaborator S. Ranganayaki pushed boundaries in the post-Miller-Urey era. In 1954, Bahadur published in Nature on sunlight-driven amino acid synthesis, predating similar findings. By the early 1960s, they mixed formaldehyde with inorganic salts like molybdate, phosphate, and iron sulfate, exposing the brew to sunlight. The result? Tiny blue spheres that allegedly grew, budded, and produced biomolecules.
Ranganayaki, a lecturer at the same university, co-authored key papers and even conducted experiments from her hospital bed during illness, using window sunlight. Their work spanned nitrogen fixation, amino acid formation, and protocells, but personal hardships and scientific isolation marked their journey. Bahadur passed in 1994; Ranganayaki in 1994 too. Their daughter Ila donated archives to NCBS in 2024, preserving notebooks, letters, and data that fueled the revival.
Jeewanu Experiments: From Allahabad Labs to Global Controversy
Bahadur's recipe was deceptively simple: acidify formaldehyde with salts, add sunlight or UV light, and watch microspheres emerge. Published in obscure journals, the claims included growth (size increase), reproduction (budding), and metabolism (amino acids, sugars, nucleobases). Invited to Oparin's 1957 origin-of-life symposium, Bahadur couldn't attend due to visa issues—one of few Indians recognized then.
Criticism was swift. U.S. biochemist Sidney Fox called it a 'crime against humanity' in 1963, accusing self-deception. NASA's Cyril Ponnamperuma questioned sterility in a 1967 review. Western bias played a role, as historian Mathias Grote noted in 2011: prejudice against 'unusual' results from non-Western labs. Jeewanu faded, but Hungarian chemist Tibor Ganti referenced it positively, inspiring Thutupalli in 2019.
NCBS Revival: Thutupalli Lab's Modern Quest
Shashi Thutupalli, Associate Professor at NCBS-TIFR's Simons Centre for the Study of Living Machines and ICTS-TIFR, stumbled on Jeewanu via Ganti. His lab explores active matter and life's origins. Chakraborty, a chemist-turned-biologist, ran ~1,000 trials in 2023, nailing a minimal recipe: formaldehyde (carbon source), diammonium molybdate (Mo catalyst), ferrous sulfate (Fe), diammonium hydrogen phosphate (P/N), pH ~2.
NCBS launched the Bahadur-Ranganayaki archives on January 20, 2026, coinciding with events on life's origins. An exhibit at Science Gallery Bengaluru (2023) engaged publics with replicative Jeewanu demos. This blend of history, replication, and innovation positions NCBS as a hub for prebiotic chemistry.
Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash
Methods: Recreating Protocells Step-by-Step
1. Prepare mixture: 0.1-1% concentrations, acid to pH 2.
2. Incubate at 25-30°C under ambient light, dark, or solar simulator.
3. Observe via optical microscopy: spheres form in 1-2 hours only with all components.
4. Analyze: EDX for composition (Mo/N/Fe enriched), SEM/TEM for structure (hollow, adhesive shells), calorimetry for metabolism, LC-MS/¹³C NMR for products.
Controls confirmed necessity of each ingredient. Natural day-night cycles worked too, mimicking prebiotic Earth. Laser perforation tests showed permeability; growth reduced polydispersity.
Breakthrough Findings: Metabolically Active Protocells
The arXiv preprint (De novo emergence of metabolically active protocells, Jan 2026) reveals:
- Spontaneous compartment formation with growth and internal spherules for self-seeding.
- Sustained exothermic activity (up to 21 days), pH shifts indicating metabolism.
- Production of lipid-like, amino acid/peptide-like, carbohydrate-like molecules from formaldehyde.
- Composition matches molybdenum-rich ocean microspheres (2024 paper).
Thutupalli: 'You start with very simple stuff, and get a compartment that looks like a cell.' Not 'life,' but a plausible prebiotic step.
Links to Nature: Echoes in Oceanic Microspheres
A 2024 study found blue Mo-rich spheres in ocean sponges, matching Jeewanu's makeup. Thutupalli suggests Earth spots facilitate this chemistry, hinting at ongoing prebiotic processes. This bridges lab to nature, bolstering relevance.
Implications for Origin of Life: Metabolism-First Pathway
Jeewanu supports 'metabolism-first' hypothesis: catalysis and compartments precede genes. Fits hydrothermal vents (Mo/Fe sources). Complements RNA world; hybrid models emerge. Philippe Nghe (French prof): 'Plausible route for catalytic chemistry + compartmentalization.'
Sudha Rajamani (IISER Pune): Highlights biases; non-Western work undervalued. Searchable biosignatures for exoplanets.
Photo by Artyom Korshunov on Unsplash
Challenges, Skepticism, and Future Outlook
Cleaves (Howard U.): Define 'life' clearly; avoid bias. Needs peer review, replication by others. Future: Autocatalysis tests, inheritance, Darwinian evolution. Chakraborty: 'Biggest achievement: others picking it up.'
In India, boosts origin-of-life research at IISERs, IITs, NCBS. Ties to TIFR's legacy.
Legacy: Honoring Forgotten Indian Innovators
NCBS archives preserve 4 linear feet of papers (1940-1995): notebooks, letters (Fox critique), drafts. Ila Bahadur: Mother vocal on rejection; father saddened. Revives pride in indigenous science amid global narratives dominated by Miller-Urey.
As India invests in research (NEP 2020), stories like Jeewanu inspire. Explore NCBS archives here.