Press Reports

Nov 27th , 2021: The CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad celebrated its 34th Foundation Day on 26th November, 2021. This day commemorates the day its first independent campus was set up, which is called the CCMB main campus now, at Habsiguda.

CCMB celebrated the day with multiple activities for its students, staff and public. This included its research scholars presenting their work. The Foundation Day lecture, open for all, was delivered by Dr Shekhar Mande, Director-General, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). Dr Mande is a biophysics expert, and in his talk, he spoke of how scientists understand structures of protein complexes and their functions – a field where a large amount of biological data is generated. The same is through for those unraveling genomes of different living organisms. He said that the next big question lies in finding meaningful inferences from these large datasets. “Big data analytics remain largely untapped in life sciences to address fundamental questions like how genes are regulated. They define differences between different organisms. They are also exrremely important for the pharma and life science industry. Premier life science research institutes like CCMB must address them”, said Dr Mande.

The day ended with a flute recital by Pandit Ronu Majumdar, an exponent from Maihar Gharana of Hindustani classical music. “Art and science stem from the common motivation of creativity. Like scientists, we create music on an empty canvas”, said Pt Majumdar. The recital followed a discussion with the artists on their traditions and practices in the music community. To summarize Pt Majumdar said, “Perform for the love of the subject, and not expecting returns and rewards. When one studies any subject deeply, their place is never insecure.”

In the Director’s address, Dr Vinay Nandicoori said, “In the coming years, we expect to see a lot of rigorous fundamental science coming from our scientists. CCMB is uniquely placed with its deep expertise in basic science as well as being in an ecosystem that facilitates translation of our findings. We will take advantage of this position to make a stronger impact on society. Our contributions during COVID-19 already have paved the way.