Calcutta Consortium on Human Genetics

The Consortium is an offshoot that has its root in a collaborative effort between a few scientists from three institutes of Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) – Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Biology (CSIR-IICB), and Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics (SINP) – who embarked on molecular genetic studies among ethnic groups of India on a pan-India level in 1999. Their sustained efforts resulted in qualifying the nature and extent of genetic diversity in ethnic groups of India, dispersed geographically and socio-culturally. A clear picture of peopling of India, with reasonable estimates of dates of major migration events, emerged from these studies. Many of the original findings of this Consortium have been validated later by others. In addition, these studies have shown how various social customs have left their imprints on genomic structures of ethnic groups. Most recently, many of the scientists in these studies have also been actively involved in a national human genome consortium study, sponsored by the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), Government of India. CCHuGe was officially registered as a society to foster the effort to attain greater heights.