Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB) is a premier research institute in India, exclusive devoted to research in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology. It is located at Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum), the capital city of the state of Kerala in India. This centre is an autonomous institute under the Department of Biotechnology of the Govt. of India. Previously, it was an R&D centre under Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment.
The centre was inaugurated on November 18, 2002 by then President of India, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. The institute has highly focused research departments working on medical biotechnology (Molecular Medicine, Molecular Reproduction, Molecular Microbiology, Cancer Biology & Neurobiology) and plant genetic engineering. The Center has a regional facility for Genetic Fingerprinting, which provides DNA analysis services for forensic & criminal investigations, paternity disputes, identification of wildlife remains, authentication of plants and seeds besides a battery of molecular diagnostics for genetic and infectious diseases. RGCB is also a major provider of laboratory and infrastructure services to other academic and research institutions.
RGCB has a strength of 25 scientists, 120 Ph.D. students and around 100 research project staff. The centre has good infrastructural facilities for carrying out cutting-edge research in the field of Biotechnology. Monetary support of Rs. 100 crores sanctioned by the Govt. of India in 2008, for a period of 3 years, apart from the yearly allocation of Rs. 25 crores, aims at making RGCB a world class research centre in the near future.
RGCB is set to expand further into a second campus at Aakulum shortly. It would focus on R & D and also provide a ubique "TEST & PROVE " facility to encourage biotechnology. BioSpectrum magazine ranked Bio-Technology course at RGCB as second best in the country only after Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai.