A recent study on Sri Lankan populations, published in Current Biology (June 2025), goes beyond science: it challenges long-held assumptions about population origins and rewrites our understanding of Sri Lankan genetic history. Dr. Maanasa Raghavan led this research alongside Dr. Niraj Rai of the Birbal Sahni Institute of Paleosciences and Dr. Ruwandi Ranasinghe of the University of Colombo. Dr. Maanasa Raghavan is the Neubauer Family Assistant Professor of Human Genetics at the University of C

Photos by A. Priyakumar It feels like yesterday. As a student, I remember flipping through Amuthu, a Tamil-language magazine published by Lake House. One day, I came across an article about Dr. Rajani Thiranagama—her brilliant career, and how she was cowardly and mercilessly assassinated. More than the tragedy of that brave woman, what seared itself into me was the image of her two young daughters standing beside their mother. Even as a boy, I felt a deep and overwhelming compassion for them. T