Anu Acharya: The Woman From Hyderabad Who Is Redefining our Jathakam!

“Once you leave for the US, no one ever comes back to India to settle.” We are calling bullshit on that today. Meet Anuradha Acharya, who not only gracefully moved back from Chicago to work for her own country, but also made a revolutionary break-through in genome science, that affects not only genetics as a stream but also benefits Indian traditions.

Insane, yes! Kind of a rare situation when age-old traditions are backed up by scientific advancement isn’t it! And that is exactly why Anu Acharya is badass!

She hit the ground running with an entrepreneurial venture, Ocimum Bio Solutions which did immensely well.
And existential questions like “what have I done yet?” “What else can I do?” “What can I do to make an actual impact?” led to this wonder that is MapMyGenome.

Genomepatri, an intentional pun on Janampatri (you know, the traditional jathakam) is meant to give you all the accurate details of your ancestry and your gene traits.

Now this will help in solving the age old gotram lolli that haunts many couples, thanks to this woman.

Let’s give you more reasons to thank her. You will know exactly what allergies you have, whether you will ever get diabetes, and also whether you’ll bald. We’re sure you’d want to know that!

Let’s talk about awards. She made the list of 25 Tech Titans under 35 in 2006. Entrepreneur of the year award by Biospectrum magazine, and the Astia Life Science Innovators Award in 2008 and was honored as Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2011. Phew!

With MapMyGenome’s headquarters in Hyderabad, Anu Acharya indeed has put us on the map. Kudos, woman!