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Autar Singh Paintal
September 24, 1925 - December 21, 2004
Autar Singh Paintal, MBBS, MD, PhD (1925-2004)
 Autar
Singh Paintal, an icon of post-war cardio-pulmonary physiology, died on
December 21, 2004 in
Delhi at age 79 years. He was elected to the
Royal Society of Edinburgh, as well as to the Royal Society. The Government
of India awarded him the Padma Vibhushan. He was elected an honorary
member of the American Physiological Society.
Born in Mogok, Burma (now Myanmar), Paintal’s
scholastic career was meritorious as a medical student and later, a
postgraduate student in physiology at the King George’s Medical College,
Lucknow, India. Subsequently, while completing a Ph.D. in David
Whitteridge’s laboratory in Edinburgh, UK, Paintal achieved a breakthrough
by developing the single-fiber technique for recording afferent impulses
from individual sensory receptors. Using this novel approach, Paintal
discovered several sensory receptors including atrial B receptors, pulmonary
J-receptors, ventricular pressure receptors, stomach stretch receptors, and
muscle pain receptors. The single fiber technique was widely used, and so
great was its impact that Corneille Heymans (Nobel Prize, 1938) and Eric
Neil coined the terms pre-Paintal and post-Paintal to
recognize the new era in physiological understanding.
In 1953 Paintal returned to India where as head
of the VP Chest Institute, and later of the Council of Medical Research, he
tirelessly promoted physiological research, this writer being one of many
who were inspired by his scientific enthusiasm. Those who knew him will
remember his incisive intellect, his youthful charm and his graciousness.
He championed the highest standards of scientific conduct and scientific
method, accepting no compromise on the quality and elegance of experimental
data. These were the hallmarks of his research. His wife and partner in
science, Ashima Anand, of New Delhi, India, his daughters Anita, of Bombay,
India and Priti, of Kent, UK, and his son, Gautam, of Lincoln, UK, survive
him.
Jahar Bhattacharya, College of
Physicians & Surgeons, Columbia University
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