Kumarasamy Thangaraj
A CCMB geneticist whose work traced the Andamanese to early migrations out of Africa, honoured with the Padma Shri in 2026.
Kumarasamy Thangaraj reads human history in DNA. In 2026 he was named for the Padma Shri in the field of science and engineering, from Telangana [1].
Career
Thangaraj was born on 2 June 1963 and earned his PhD in genetics from the University of Madras [2]. He joined the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) in Hyderabad as a junior scientist in 1993, and is now a CSIR Bhatnagar Fellow there [2]. From 2020 to 2023 he directed the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics in Hyderabad [2]. He coordinates two Department of Biotechnology missions, Genome India and a programme on rare genetic diseases in children [2].
Out of Africa
His studies showed that the Andaman islanders descend from some of the first modern humans to leave Africa, about 65,000 years ago [2]. Later work found that today’s Indian populations come from two ancestral groups that mixed about 2,000 years ago, after which communities mostly married within themselves [2]. Because many groups grew from small founding populations, his work suggests they may carry their own recessive genetic diseases [2].
He also estimated that a genetic mutation found only in South Asia puts about 60 million people, around 1% of the world’s population, at risk of heart disease [2].
He has published more than 300 papers and founded the Society for Mitochondrial Research and Medicine [2]. He has received the Vigyan Shri award under the Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar [2].
Sources
- [1] Padma Awards 2026: list of awardees — Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. Accessed 11 October 2026.
- [2] Padma Awards 2026 investiture ceremony brochure: citation for Kumarasamy Thangaraj — Press Information Bureau, Government of India. Accessed 12 October 2026.
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