Gate 2023 syllabus of Biotechnology

Introduction

GATE (Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering) for Biotechnology is a highly regarded examination that evaluates the knowledge and skills of candidates in the field of biotechnology and its applications. The exam’s syllabus covers a diverse range of topics, including molecular biology, genetics, biochemistry, bioprocess engineering, immunology, and genetic engineering. GATE Biotechnology assesses candidates’ understanding of the fundamental principles and cutting-edge advancements in biotechnological research.

Qualifying in GATE Biotechnology opens doors to a wide array of opportunities for candidates, including admission to prestigious postgraduate programs in biotechnology and related fields in leading academic institutions. A valid GATE score is often considered essential for recruitment in research organizations, biopharmaceutical companies, and government agencies, providing candidates with promising career paths in areas such as drug development, agriculture, healthcare, and environmental sciences.

Biotechnology Subject Code: BT

Topic wise detailed syllabus for GATE 2024: Biotechnology

Matrices and determinants; Systems of linear equations; Eigen values and Eigen
vectors.

Limits, continuity and differentiability; Partial derivatives, maxima and minima;
Sequences and series; Test for convergence.

Linear and nonlinear first order ODEs, higher order ODEs with constant
coefficients; Cauchy’s and Euler’s equations; Laplace transforms.

Mean, median, mode and standard deviation; Random variables;
Poisson, normal and binomial distributions; Correlation and regression analysis.

Solution of linear and nonlinear algebraic equations; Integration by trapezoidal
and Simpson’s rule; Single step method for differential equations

Biomolecules – structure and function; Biological membranes – structure, membrane channels and pumps, molecular motors, action potential and transport processes; Basic concepts and regulation of metabolism of carbohydrates, lipids, amino acids and nucleic acids; Photosynthesis, respiration and electron transport chain. Enzymes – Classification, catalytic and regulatory strategies; Enzyme kinetics – Michaelis-Menten equation; Enzyme inhibition -competitive, non-competitive and uncompetitive inhibition.

Bacterial classification and diversity; Microbial Ecology – microbes in marine, fresh water and terrestrial ecosystems; Microbial interactions; Viruses – structure and classification; Methods in microbiology; Microbial growth and nutrition; Nitrogen fixation; Microbial diseases and host-pathogen interactions; Antibiotics and antimicrobial resistance.

Innate and adaptive immunity, humoral and cell mediated immunity; Antibody structure and function; Molecular basis of antibody diversity; T cell and B cell development; Antigen-antibody reaction; Complement; Primary and secondary lymphoid organs; Major histocompatibility complex (MHC); Antigen processing and presentation; Polyclonal and monoclonal antibody; Regulation of immune response; Immune tolerance; Hypersensitivity; Autoimmunity; Graft versus hostreaction; Immunization and vaccines.

Mendelian inheritance; Gene interaction; Complementation; Linkage, recombination and chromosome mapping; Extra chromosomal inheritance; Microbial genetics – transformation, transduction and conjugation; Horizontal gene transfer and transposable elements; Chromosomal variation; Genetic disorders; Population genetics; Epigenetics; Selection and inheritance; Adaptive and neutral evolution; Genetic drift; Species and speciation.

Prokaryotic and eukaryotic cell structure; Cell cycle and cell growth control; Cell-cell communication; Cell signalling and sign altransduction; Post-translational modifications; Protein trafficking; Cell death and autophagy; Extra-cellular matrix.

Molecular structure of genes and chromosomes; Mutations and mutagenesis; Regulation of gene expression; Nucleic acid – replication, transcription, splicing, translation andtheir regulatory mechanisms; Non-coding and micro RNA; RNA interference; DNA damage and repair.

Material and energy balances for reactive and non-reactive systems; Recycle, bypass and purge processes; Stoichiometry of growth and product formation; Degree of reduction, electron balance and theoretical oxygen demand.

Laws of thermodynamics; Solution thermodynamics; Phase equilibria, reaction equilibria; Ligand binding; Membrane potential; Energetics of metabolic pathways, oxidation and reduction reactions.

Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids, fluid flow – laminar and turbulent; Mixing in bioreactors, mixing time; Molecular diffusion and film theory; Oxygen transfer and uptake in bioreactor, kLa and its measurement; Conductive and convective heat transfer, LMTD, overall heat transfer coefficient; Heat exchangers.

Rate law, zero and first order kinetics; Ideal reactors – batch, mixed flow and plug flow; Enzyme immobilization, diffusion effects – Thiele modulus, effectiveness factor, Damkoehler number; Kinetics of cell growth, substrate utilization and product formation; Structured and unstructured models; Batch, fed-batch and continuous processes; Microbial and enzyme reactors; Optimization and scale up.

Media formulation and optimization; Sterilization of air and media; Filtration – membrane filtration, ultrafiltration; Centrifugation – high speed and ultra; Cell disruption; Principles of chromatography – ion exchange, gel filtration, hydrophobic interaction, affinity, GC, HPLC and FPLC; Extraction, adsorption and drying.

Pressure, temperature and flow measurement devices; Valves; First order and second order systems; Feedback and feed forward control; Types of controllers – proportional, derivative and integral control, tuning of controllers.

Totipotency; Regeneration of plants; Plant growth regulators and elicitors; Tissue culture and cell suspension culture system – methodology, kinetics of growth and nutrient optimization; Production of secondary metabolites; Hairy root culture; Plant products of industrial importance; Artificial seeds; Somaclonal variation; Protoplast, protoplast fusion – somatic hybrid and cybrid; Transgenic plants – direct and indirect methods of gene transfer techniques; Selection marker and reporter gene; Plastid transformation.

Culture media composition and growth conditions; Animal cell and tissue preservation; Anchorage and non-anchorage dependent cell culture; Kinetics of cell growth; Micro & macrocarrier culture; Hybridoma technology; Stem cell technology; Animal cloning; Transgenic animals; Knock-out and knock-in animals.

Production of biomass and primary/secondary metabolites – Biofuels, bioplastics, industrial enzymes, antibiotics; Large scale production and purification of recombinant proteins and metabolites; Clinical-, food- and industrial- microbiology; Screening strategies for new products.

Restriction and modification enzymes; Vectors – plasmids, bacteriophage and other viral vectors, cosmids, Ti plasmid, bacterial and yeast artificial chromosomes; Expression vectors; cDNA and genomic DNA library; Gene isolation and cloning, strategies for production of recombinant proteins; Transposons and gene targeting;

Polymerase chain reaction; DNA/RNA labelling and sequencing; Southern and northern blotting; In-situ hybridization; DNA fingerprinting, RAPD, RFLP; Site-directed mutagenesis; Gene transfer technologies; CRISPR-Cas; Biosensing and biosensors.

Principles of microscopy – light, electron, fluorescent and confocal; Principles of spectroscopy – UV, visible, CD, IR, fluorescence, FT-IR, MS, NMR; Electrophoresis; Microarrays;Enzymatic assays; Immunoassays – ELISA, RIA, immunohistochemistry; immunoblotting; Flow cytometry; Whole genome and ChIPsequencing.

Bioinformatics resources and search tools; Sequence and structure databases; Sequence analysis – sequence file formats, scoring matrices, alignment, phylogeny; Genomics, proteomics, metabolomics; Gene prediction; Functional annotation; Secondary structure and 3D structure prediction; Knowledge discovery in biochemical databases; Metagenomics; Metabolic engineering and systems biology.

GATE Engineering Sciences Result analysis

GATE Biotechnology topper score by year

GATE Biotechnology cut-off by year

Number of students appearing for GATE Biotechnology Exam

Previous Year Question Papers

Download previous year question papers from the official GATE website click here.

Video Links For Biotechnology

1. Biotechnology Information

2, Bioprocess Lectures

3. Everything You need to know about Biotechnology

4. Biotechnology Mathematics