SciGenom Research Foundation is a not-for-profit trust that funds research, education and conservation that others often overlook.
SciGenom Research Foundation (SGRF) is a registered public charitable trust that promotes science in India through research and education. We back research that is important for India but rarely funded by government agencies, chosen with our scientific advisory board.
Our work spans genomics, biodiversity, agriculture, wildlife health and human health. Through our NGBT conferences, symposia, grants and awards, we bring researchers, students and industry together. Since 2015 we have also built the Hortus Malabaricus Botanical Garden in Kerala, which opened to the public in January 2025.
Our vision: use advances in science for the betterment of society.
Genome projects on Indian crops, rivers, wildlife and people, from purple rice to the Indian cobra, with results in Nature and Nature Genetics.
Our research →
The Hortus Malabaricus Botanical Garden and Research Institute works on plant conservation, propagation and research, with a taxonomy lab, herbarium and conservatories for rare, orchid and aquatic plants. Its new eFlora Keralam database covers more than 5,700 flowering plants of Kerala.
Visit hmbgri.org ↗
A 28-acre garden in Cheruthuruthy that brings to life the 742 plants of the 17th-century Hortus Malabaricus. Work began in 2015; it opened to the public in January 2025.
Visit the garden ↗
Ayur Udhyan, opened in July 2026, shows how 108 vital medicinal plants are used in Ayurveda, across the three terrains described in Ayurvedic texts. Our Dravya Bodhini course trains practitioners from plant identification to clinical use.
Visit the garden ↗The study sequenced 1,267 people, including 598 from 55 ethnic groups across India. It found many Indian population groups well suited to finding disease genes, and variants linked to cancer risk and drug reactions.
Read the paper ↗SGRF and partners assembled a high-quality genome of the Indian cobra and identified 19 key venom toxin genes. The catalogue is a starting point for safer, synthetic antivenoms.
Read the paper ↗Our NextGen Genomics, Biology, Bioinformatics and Technologies (NGBT) conference brought India's genomics community together in a different city each year. We have also run symposia, workshops and genomics grants for scientists and students.
HMBGRI has launched the beta version of eFlora Keralam, an online database of more than 5,700 flowering plants of Keralam. Originally curated by Dr N. Sasidharan, it lets you browse by family, species, synonyms and local names, with plant photographs.
Visit eFlora Keralam ↗
Garden writer Deni Bown visited the garden and reports on how a new botanic garden became a research institution, education centre and visitor attraction in just over a decade. She highlights its focus on the 742 species of Hortus Malabaricus, the Sacred Grove, the banana forest and the butterfly garden.
Read the article (PDF) ↗
Dr K.S. Vishnu Namboothiri, President of the Ayurveda Medical Association of India, inaugurated Ayur Udhyan at HMBGRI. Laid out in the traditional Sarvatobhadra style, it recreates the three Ayurvedic terrains and arranges 108 vital medicinal plants by the stages of life.
About Ayur Udhyan ↗SGRF is a registered public charitable trust approved under Section 12A of the Income Tax Act. Donations to SGRF are eligible for tax deduction under Section 80G.