Mahaletchumy Arujanan

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| birth_place = Klang Valley, Selangor, Malaysia | spouse = Selvamuthu Raja | children = 2 (Komalah & Deepa) | parents = Arujanan Periasamy and Mariyayee. S }}

Mahaletchumy Arujanan (born 25 May 1969) is an international recognised science communicator of Malaysian Indian origin. She works as the Global Coordinator of International Service for the Acquisition of Agribiotech Applications (ISAAA) and executive director of Malaysian Biotechnology Information Center (MABIC).

She is actively involved in science communication since 2003 but became a public figure in 2015 when she was listed as one of the 100 most influential people in the field of biotechnology by the 7th edition of The Scientific American Worldwide View: A Global Biotechnology Perspective Journal.

She studied in University Putra Malaysia (1989-1993), then in University of Malaya (1993-1997). In 1996, she started working In Sandoz Agro, a Swiss agrichemical company while completing her Masters.

Her journey to become a prominent science communicator is said to be a path of struggle, passion and dedication. Between 1996 - 2002, she worked in four different organisations and companies before finding her calling for science communication when she joined the Malaysian Biotechnology Information Centre ([https://bic.org.my/ MABIC]) in Jan 2003 as a project officer. Mahaletchumy took over as the executive director in May 2005 where she felt strongly that communicating science to all stakeholders will solve many issues as science is in everything. This also expanded her role internationally.

In 2008, she joined University of Malaya to pursue a PhD in science communication, being the first Malaysian to pursue a PhD in this field. As part of her initiative to democratise science and remove the elitism often linked to science, she founded the country's first biotechnology newspaper, ''[https://thepetridish.my/ The Petri Dish]''. She created many platforms to engage a wide range of stakeholders to raise their understanding of science. As the Executive Directors of [https://bic.org.my/ MABIC], her work aims to create a science literate society; promote STEM education and careers to students; influence science-based policies and regulations; and make science communication a mainstream discipline. All her contributions in science communication earned her a number of accolades and also made her a sought after international speaker. This includes speaking at the EU Parliament in 2016 on the need for EU to address concerns related to genetically modified crops in a science-based manner.

Mahaletchumy is a regular speaker at the Agri-biotechnology and Biosafety Communication Symposium (ABBC) since the first ABBC in 2015 in Nairobi, [https://africenter.isaaa.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/ABBC-2017-programme-FINAL.pdf Kenya]. In 2017, she spoke at the ABBC in Uganda urging lawmakers to pass their Biosafety Bill as adoption of agribiotechnology safeguards livelihood. In 2019, Mahaletchumy underscored the need for Africa's growing population to tap into the prospects offered by emerging technologies such genome editing at the 3rd ABBC in Pretoria, South Africa. In 2021, in the 4th ABBC held virtually, Mahaletchumy lauded Africa for continued growth in number of countries adopting biotech crops. In 2023, ABBC, held in Nairobi, Kenya, Mahaletchumy voiced out that the 30 years of communication about GMOs have been marred by glaring mistakes such as over-claims, inward engagements (not engaging opponents) and low social media footprint.

Mahaletchumy also visits Pakistan regularly to support their adoption of agribiotechnology and to train scientists, regulators, policymakers, and journalists on effective communication. She actively contributed towards the development of biotechnology in the Muslim world to support equality and inclusiveness. Mahaletchumy organised a workshop in Malaysia to address the Challenges of Communicating Agribiotechnology in Muslim Countries.

In 2018, Mahaletchumy established the Asian Short Course in Agribiotechnology and Biosafety (ASCA), an annual short course for biosafety regulators, scientists, industry players and even the media to support science-based policy making, agile regulations that support emerging technologies. bridging the gap between media and scientists, and where youth are inspired to pursue STEM education and career.

Mahaletchumy was listed as one of the 100 most influential persons in biotechnology by [https://www.scientificamerican.com/ Scientific American] WorldView in 2015. She is a recipient of 2010 TWAS Regional Prize for Public Understanding of Science for East, Southeast Asia, and Pacific Region, and has been listed as one of the prominent women in biotechnology law and regulations by Biotechnology Law Report. She was recognized as one of the Great Women of Our Time by the Malaysian Women's Weekly in their December 2015 issue. Provided by Wikipedia