the problem of ageing to find out the biochemical and molecular changes that occur in the brain and other organs of the rat as a function of age. He made the following original and important findings: not only the levels of several enzymes decrease, but also their isoenzymes change with increasing age; the decrease in their levels can be prevented by administration of steroid hormones whose receptors are present in the brain; decrease in enzyme levels is due to increasing compaction of chromatin that prevents acetylation of histones and decreases transcription; he proposed a model for ageing and showed that trans-acting protein factors that bind to cis-acting elements in the promoter of genes change with age. As signals from the brain cause expression of neurotransmitters in the brain, the neurotransmitter receptors (NT), both excitatory and inhibitory, change with age; also enzymes necessary for synthesis of NT change during the life span of the rat. Kanungo was the founder director of the Institute of Life Sciences of Government of Odisha at Bhubaneswar. He worked hard with the then chief minister of Odisha, Biju Patnaik, for establishing the institute during the late 1980s which is now a DBT Institute. Until his death Prof. M. S. Kanungo continued working on topics such as expression of genes and proteins involved in neurotransmission and recycling of neurotransmitters in the brain as a function of age;studying genes and proteins to understand the molecular mechanism involved in the process of learning and memory during ageing;expression of genes involved in formation of blood brain barrier (BBB) as a function of age and under different types of stress. Promotion of gerontology Kanungo was the founder president (1981–88) and patron (1989–2011) of the Association of Gerontology of India (AGI), which had three components: biological, socio-psychological and medical for research and planning on the ageing and the elderly. He was also an active member of the National Council for Older Persons (N. C. O. P.) of Govt. of India, Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment from 1999–2011, which proposed the National Initiative for Care of Elderly (NICE) policy. M. S. Kanungo's devotion and dedication to teaching and research in the field of physiology & biochemistry and ageing was absolute His publications and lectures on ageing have brought into focus the importance of the problem of Gerontology, and the field has been accepted as a thrust area for research and teaching since