| Sections |
Topics |
Subtopics |
| Section A |
General Aptitude |
Comprehension, Verbal and Non-verbal reasoning, Quantitative aptitude |
| Section A (General Biotechnology) |
Biomolecular structure and function |
- Covalent structure of Amino acids, proteins, nucleic acids, carbohydrates and lipids
- Forces that stabilize biomolecules: electrostatic and van der Waal‟s interaction, hydrogen bonding. Interactions with solvents, Hydrophobic effect.
- Protein Structure, Ramachandran plot. Protein domains and domain architecture. Quaternary structure of proteins
- Conformation of Nucleic acids: Structural characteristics of A, B and Z-DNA. 3D structure of t-RNA, ribozymes and riboswitches
- Basic Thermodynamics: Laws of thermodynamics. Concepts of ∆G, ∆H and ∆S
- Physical properties of water and their role in biology. Concepts of pH, ionic strength and buffers.
- Chemical kinetics: Concepts of order and molecularity of a chemical reaction. Derivation of first and second order rate equation, measurement of rate constants. Concept of activation energy.
- Enzymology: Introduction to enzymes. Types of enzymatic reaction mechanisms, Michaelis-Menten kinetics. Competitive, Non-competitive and Un-competitive inhibition. Bi-substrate reaction kinetics. Allostery
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Methods in Biotechnology |
- Concepts of precision and accuracy in experimental measurements. Concept of signal-to-noise ratio.
- Biostatistics: Measures of Central Tendency. Fundamental ideas of probability and probability distributions: Binomial, Poisson and Gaussian distributions. Concept of the Central Limit Theorem. Hypothesis testing, Correlation and regression. Basic concepts of design of Experiments.
- Biochemical Methods: Chromatography: Ion exchange, Gel Filtration and Affinity chromatography. Electrophoresis: Native and SDS-PAGE. Isoelectric focusing. 2DPAGE and its applications.
- UV/Vis spectrophotometry. Beer-Lambert‟s law and its use in determination of protein/ nucleic acid concentration.
- Fluorescence Spectroscopy: Basic concepts of excitation and emission. Quenching, Stern-Volmer Plots. Theory and applications of FRET and fluorescence lifetime measurements.
- Fundamentals of CD, IR and Raman spectroscopy and their use in studying biomolecular conformation.
- Centrifugation: Basic concepts of centrifugation. Calculation of g value from RPM, Density gradient centrifugation. Sedimentation velocity and Sedimentation equilibrium. Separation of sub-cellular components and macromolecules using high speed and ultracentrifugation.
- Microscopy: Bright field, phase contrast, fluorescence, confocal, and electron microscopy.
- Fundamentals of X-ray, NMR and cryo-electron microscopy for determination of biomolecular structure.
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Organization of structure and functions of prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells |
- Cell wall and Cell Membrane: physical structure of model membranes in prokaryotes and eukaryotes, lipid bilayer, membrane proteins, other constituents; diffusion, osmosis, active transport, regulation of intracellular transport and electrical properties.
Structural organization and functions of cell organelles: nucleus, mitochondria,
- Golgi bodies, endoplasmic reticulum, lysosomes, Chloroplast, peroxisomes, vacuoles. Cytoskeletons structure and motility function.
- Organization of genomes: genes and chromosomes, Operon, unique and repetitive DNA, interrupted genes, gene families, structure of chromatin and chromosomes, heterochromatin, euchromatin, transposons.
- Cell division and cell cycle: Mitosis and meiosis, their regulation, Cell cycle and its regulation, Apoptosis, Necrosis and Autophagy.
- Cell transformation and cancer, oncogenes and proto-oncogenes, tumor suppressor genes, metastasis. Therapeutic interventions of uncontrolled cell growth.
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Cellular processes |
- DNA replication, repair and recombination (Unit of replication, enzymes involved, replication origin and replication fork, fidelity of replication, extrachromosomal replicons, DNA damage and repair mechanisms, homologous and site-specific recombination).
- Transcription of various types of RNAs and their processing and modifications. Transcription factors and machinery including RNA polymerases, formation of initiation complex, elongation and termination of transcription. Regulation of transcription: activators (enhancers) and repressors, Locus control regions. Structure and function of different types of RNA and mRNPs. RNA transport, localization and function.
- Protein synthesis, processing and transport of proteins: Ribosome, mRNA structure, genetic code, aminoacylation of tRNA, aminoacyl tRNA synthetase. Mechanism of translation: Initiation, elongation and termination factors and translational proof-reading.
Regulation of Translation- global vs mRNA-specific. Translation inhibitors, Posttranslational modifications of proteins. Protein trafficking and transport.
- Control of gene expression at transcription and translation level: Regulation of gene expression in viruses, prokaryotes and eukaryotes, role of chromatin, chromatin remodelling and gene silencing, Epigenetic regulation.
- Host-pathogen interaction: Recognition and entry processes of different pathogens like bacteria, viruses and protozoans into animal and plant host cells, alteration of host cell behavior by pathogens, virus-induced cell transformation, pathogen-induced
diseases in animals and plants, cell-cell fusion in both normal and abnormal cells.
- Cell signaling: Hormones and their receptors, cell surface receptor, signaling through Gprotein coupled receptors, signal transduction pathways, second messengers, regulation of signaling pathways, bacterial and plant two-component systems, light signaling in
plants, bacterial chemotaxis and quorum sensing.
- Cellular communication: General principles of cell communication, cell adhesion and roles of different adhesion molecules, tight junctions, communicating junctions, extracellular matrix, integrins, neurotransmission and its regulation. Regulation of hematopoiesis, differentiation and development.
- Innate and adaptive immune system: Cells and molecules involved in innate and adaptive immunity, antigens, antigenicity and immunogenicity. B and T cell epitopes, structure and function of antibody molecules. generation of antibody diversity,
monoclonal antibodies, antibody engineering, antigen-antibody interactions,
- MHC molecules, antigen processing and presentation, activation and differentiation of B and T cells, B and T cell receptors, humoral and cell-mediated immune responses, primary and secondary immune modulation, the complement system, Toll-like receptors, cell-mediated effector functions, inflammation, hypersensitivity and autoimmunity, immune response during bacterial (tuberculosis), parasitic (malaria) and viral (HIV) infections, congenital and acquired immunodeficiencies, vaccines.
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Recombinant DNA Technology |
- Enzymes used in Recombinant DNA technology.
- Isolation and purification of DNA (genomic and plasmid) and RNA. Various methods of separation, characterization of nucleic acids including Southern and Northern hybridizations.
- Molecular cloning of DNA or RNA fragments in bacterial and eukaryotic systems. Expression of recombinant proteins using bacterial, animal and plant vectors and their purification. Western blotting.
- Generation of genomic and cDNA libraries. Plasmid, phage, cosmid, BAC and YAC vectors. In vitro mutagenesis and deletion techniques, gene knock out in bacterial and eukaryotic organisms.
- Isolation and amplification of specific nucleic acid sequences, PCR, RT PCR and qRT PCR, DNA sequencing methods, strategies for genome sequencing.
- Methods for analysis of gene expression at RNA and protein level, large scale expression, such as micro array based techniques.
- Analysis of DNA polymorphism: RFLP, RAPD and AFLP techniques, Biosafety regulations and IPR.
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Genetics, Phylogeny & Evolution |
- Chromosomal inheritance: Principles of Mendelian inheritance, codominance, incomplete dominance, gene interactions, pleiotropy, genomic imprinting, linkage and cross-over, sex-linked inheritance, Population Genetics and Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium.
- Extrachromosomal inheritance: Maternal inheritance (mitochondria and chloroplast), Gene concept: Allele, multiple alleles, pseudo alleles.
- Genetic analysis: Linkage maps, mapping with molecular markers, tetrad analysis, gene transfer in bacteria: transformation, conjugation, transduction, sex-duction, fine structure analysis of gene.
- Mutation: Spontaneous, induced, lethal, conditional, reversion, mutagenic suppression, germinal and somatic mutation, insertion, deletion, duplication, translocation, transposition, ploidy.
- DNA fingerprinting and its applications, DNA barcoding, marker-assisted selection and QTL mapping
- Species concept in archaea, bacteria and eukarya, Phylogenetic analysis and evolutionary relationship among taxa, MLST.
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Genomics and Proteomics |
- Introduction to Genomics: Structure and organization of prokaryotic and eukaryotic genomes - nuclear, mitochondrial and chloroplast genomes; Computational analysis of sequences- finding genes and regulatory regions; Gene annotation; Similarity searches; Pairwise and multiple alignments; Alignment statistics; Prediction of gene function using homology, context, structures, networks; Genetic variation polymorphism, deleterious mutation; Phylogenetics; Tools for genome analysis– PCR, RFLP, DNA fingerprinting, RAPD, Automated DNA sequencing; Linkage and pedigree analysis; Construction of genetic maps; Physical maps, FISH to identify chromosome landmarks.
- Genome sequencing: Human genome project-landmarks on chromosomes generated by various mapping methods; BAC libraries and shotgun libraries preparation; Physical map-cytogenetic map, contig map, restriction map, DNA sequence; DNA sequencing and sequence assembly; Model organisms and other genome projects; Comparative genomics of relevant organisms such as pathogens and non-pathogens; Evolution of a pathogen. Taxonomic classification of organisms using molecular markers -16S rRNA typing/sequencing.
- DNA Microarray technology: Basic principles and design: cDNA and oligonucleotide arrays; Applications: Global gene expression analysis, Comparative transcriptomic, Differential gene expression; Genotyping/SNP detection; Detection technology; Computational analysis of microarray data.
- Proteomics: Outline of a typical proteomics experiment; Identification and analysis of proteins by 2D analysis; Spot visualization and picking; Tryptic digestion of protein and peptide fingerprinting; Mass spectrometry; ion source (MALDI, spray sources);
analyzer (ToF, quadrupole, quadrupole ion trap) and detector; clinical proteomics and disease biomarkers; Prions; proteins in disease; Protein-protein interactions: Solid phase ELISA, pull-down assays (using GST-tagged protein), far western analysis, by surface plasmon resonance technique, Yeast two-hybrid system, Phage display; Protein interaction maps; Protein arrays-definition, applications- diagnostics, expression profiling.
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IPR, Biosafety & Bioethics |
- Types of IP: Patents, Trademarks, Copyright & Related Rights, Industrial Design, Traditional Knowledge, Geographical Indications, Protection of New GMOs; International framework for the protection of IP. IP as a factor in R&D; IPs of relevance to Biotechnology and few Case Studies; Introduction to History of GATT, WTO, WIPO and TRIPS
- Invention in context of “prior art”; Patent databases; Searching International Databases; Country-wise patent searches (USPTO, EPO, India, etc.), Analysis and report formation
- Types of patents; Indian Patent Act 1970; Recent Amendments; Filing of a patent application; Precautions before patenting-disclosure/non-disclosure; WIPO Treaties; Budapest Treaty; PCT and Implications; Role of a Country Patent Office; Procedure for
filing a PCT application.
- Patent application- forms and guidelines, fee structure, time frames; Types of patent applications: provisional and complete specifications; PCT and convention patent applications; International patenting-requirement, procedures and costs; Financial
assistance for patenting-introduction to existing schemes; Publication of patents-gazette of India, status in Europe and US Patenting by research students, lecturers and scientists,University/organizational rules in India and abroad, credit sharing by workers, financial
incentives, Patent infringement- meaning, scope, litigation, case studies and examples.
- Biosafety: Introduction; Historical Background; Introduction to Biological Safety Cabinets; Primary Containment for Biohazards; Biosafety Levels; Biosafety Levels of Specific Microorganisms; Recommended Biosafety Levels for Infectious Agents and Infected Animals; Biosafety guidelines - Government of India; Definition of GMOs & LMOs; Roles of Institutional Biosafety Committee, RCGM, GEAC etc. for GMO applications in food and agriculture; Environmental release of GMOs; Risk Analysis, Risk Assessment; Risk management and communication; Overview of National Regulations and relevant International Agreements including Cartagena Protocol.
- Bioethics: Concepts; Philosophical considerations; Epistemology of Science; Ethical Terms; Principles & Theories; Relevance to Biotechnology; Ethics and the Law Issues: Genetic Engineering, Stem Cells, Cloning, Medical techniques, Trans-humanism,
Bioweapons; Research concerns - Animal Rights, Ethics of Human Cloning, Reproduction and Stem Cell Research; Emerging issues: Biotechnology‟s Impact on Society; DNA on the Witness Stand - Use of genetic evidence in civil and criminal court cases; Challenges to Public Policy – To Regulate or Not to Regulate; Improving public understanding of biotechnology products to correct misconceptions.
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