The origin of the department of Microbiology & Cell Biology (MCB) traces to the Pharmacology Laboratory and the Fermentation Technology Laboratory, both established in the early 1940’s, which were amalgamated in 1968. Over the decades, MCB department has continuously evolved, kept pace with the cutting edge research tools in varied areas of microbiology and cell biology, often taking up research problems that are relevant to society. Some areas where we have a long tradition of excellence are (i) microbial biology including work on pathogens, (ii) regulation of gene expression, (iii) cancer biology, (iv) vaccine/drug development for infectious diseases and (v) plant biology.