The Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) is one of the constituent national laboratories of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research CSIR, the premier multidisciplinary Research & Development organisation of the Government of India. It was set up as a semi-autonomous Centre in 1977 in Hyderabad, the capital city of Andhra Pradesh, became a full-fledged national laboratory during 1981-82, and was dedicated to the nation on 26 November, 1987 by the then Prime Minister of India late Shri Rajiv Gandhi. The ongoing research programmes at the CCMB are in three major categories - high quality basic research in the frontier areas of modern biology, research relevant to societal needs, and application-oriented research towards commercialisation. These include the areas of biomedicine & diagnostics, evolution & development, gene regulation in prokaryotes and eukaryotes, host-parasite interactions, membrane biology, protein structure, bioinformatics, functional genomics, theoretical biology, etc. CCMB has also taken lead in the dissemination of modern biological information through popularisation of science, science education in schools, and has been a meeting point for art and science. In recognition of its contribution to modern biology, CCMB has been chosen as a Centre of Excellence by UNESCO Global Network for Molecular and Cell Biology MCBN and has been designated as a South Centre for Excellence for Research and Training by the Third World Academy of Sciences TWAS , Italy. Many prestigious international and national awards have come to CCMB including the CSIR Technology Award (twice) and FICCI Award for outstanding achievements in Science & Technology.