Hosakatte Niranjana Murthy, professor in the PostGraduate Department of Botany, Karnatak University, Dharwad, India, has obtained his Ph.D. degree from Karnatak University, India. He has a tremendous passion for research and academics. Since 1986, he has served various positions in the Post-Graduate Department of Botany, Karnatak University, Dharwad, India. Apart from his teaching experience of 35 years, he possesses extensive research experience in the area of plant biotechnology. He has postdoctoral and collaborative research experience in many foreign research institutes. Professor Murthy has worked at Biotechnology Division, Tata Energy Research Institute, New Delhi, India (1992); Crop Science Department, University of Guelph, Guelph, Canada (1993); Research Centre for the Development of Horticultural Technology, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, South Korea (2000-2001; 2002; 2004, 2006-2007, 2013- 2014); and Department of Biological Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom (2005-2006), as a postdoctoral fellow/visiting scientist. He is a recipient of various prestigious fellowships, including Biotechnology National Associate and Biotechnology Overseas Associate (awarded by Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India); Brain Pool Fellowship (awarded by Korean Society of Science and Technology, South Korea); Visiting Fellowship (awarded by Korea Science and Engineering Foundation, South Korea); and Commonwealth Post-doctoral Fellowship (awarded by the Association of Commonwealth Universities, UK). He has completed more than 15 research projects funded by various agencies and guided several xi Ph.D. students. Professor Murthy has published more than 225 research articles in international peer-reviewed journals with high impact factors. His research work has been cited more than 4300 times by fellow researchers and has an H-index (Hirsch index) of 34 as recorded by Scopus. Professor Murthy has developed biotechnological methods for the production of pharmaceutically important secondary metabolites from cell and organ cultures of ginseng, Siberian ginseng, Echinacea, and St. John's wort using large-scale bioreactors along with South Korean collaborators. His experimental investigations on the use of adventitious root cultures and bioreactor technologies for the production of biomass and secondary metabolites have paved the way for the commercialization of plant secondary metabolites. Various ginsengbased commercial products have been released and are currently available in the market. Professor Kee Yoeup Paek received his Ph.D. degree in 1984 from the Kyungbuk National University, South Korea, and he worked at Chungbuk National University, South Korea, for 40 years as assistant professor, associate professor, and professor. He has received large funds from various agencies and established the Research Center for the Development of Advanced Horticultural Technology at Chungbuk National University, South Korea, and he was the director of this center till his superannuation. On the research front, he has worked on large-scale production of secondary metabolites from medicinal plant tissue culture and bioreactor culture technology; mass propagation of horticultural plants through bioreactor technology; morphological, physiological, and biochemical responses of in vitro produced plants during acclimatization; and flowering physiology of ornamental plants. Professor Paek was the president of the Korean Orchid Society, Korean Society for Horticultural Sciences, and Korean Plant Biotechnology Society. He has worked at the Institute of Plant Physiology, Russia; Department of Horticulture, Chiba University, Japan; University of Calgary, Canada; and University of California, Riverside, USA. He has published 630 papers including several books published xii About the Editors by reputed journals and publishers. He has guided 47 Ph.D. students, 38postdoctoral students, and active member of numerous research projects. He has ten international patents awarded by Korea, Japan, and the USA. Professor Paek has developed biotechnological methods for the production of pharmaceutically important secondary metabolites from cell and organ cultures of ginseng, Siberian ginseng, Echinacea, and St. John's wort using large scale bioreactors. His experimental investigations on the use of adventitious root cultures and bioreactor technologies for the production of biomass and secondary metabolites have paved the way for the commercialization of plant secondary metabolites. Various ginseng-based commercial products have been released and are currently available in the market.
