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GATE Biotechnology Syllabus PDF Download

By BYJU'S Exam Prep

Updated on: October 17th, 2023

GATE Biotechnology Syllabus is released by IIT Kanpur on its official website. GATE Biotechnology is one of the 29 disciplines in which the GATE exam is conducted each year. Candidates who choose BT as their subject must check the complete GATE Biotechnology Syllabus to understand the topics that need to be covered.

GATE Biotechnology syllabus allows you to plan your preparation in a strategic manner. This subject has opted for candidates who have completed or are pursuing their Bachelor’s degree in Biotechnology. To achieve good marks in the exam, candidates are suggested to download the GATE Biotechnology syllabus PDF provided below. This post provides extensive information on the GATE syllabus for Biotechnology so that candidates do not encounter any difficulties when studying for the exam.

GATE Biotechnology Syllabus Overview

The GATE Biotechnology Syllabus consists of topics and subtopics from the Graduation level which may be asked in the GATE exam. A thorough understanding of the syllabus is an extremely crucial step on the road to clearing the upcoming GATE examination.

GATE Biotechnology syllabus comprises seven following sections:

  • Engineering Mathematics
  • General Biotechnology
  • Recombinant DNA Technology and Other Tools in Biotechnology
  • Genetics and Cellular Biology
  • Fundamentals of Biological Engineering
  • Plant, Animal Microbial Biotechnology
  • Bioprocess Engineering Process Biotechnology.

GATE Biotechnology Syllabus 2024 PDF Download

The GATE Biotechnology syllabus 2024 is quite different from the degree syllabi. The GATE syllabus for Biotechnology is divided into three sections: General Aptitude, Engineering Mathematics, and Subject-specific section. Here, we have provided the syllabus for biotechnology in PDF format. Candidates can download the PDF from the link provided below and strategize their preparation accordingly.

Download GATE Biotechnology Syllabus PDF

Engineering Mathematics Syllabus for Biotechnology

The Engineering Mathematics section of the GATE Biotechnology syllabus is a common part of the various Engineering courses in the GATE examination. The Engineering Mathematics section consists of 6 sections- Linear Algebra, Calculus, Differential equations, Analysis of complex variables, probability and statistics, and Numerical Methods. These topics are explained below.

Sections Topics
Linear Algebra Matrix algebra, systems of linear equations, consistency and rank, Eigenvalues, and Eigenvectors.
Calculus Mean value theorems, theorems of integral calculus, partial derivatives, maxima and minima, multiple integrals, Fourier series, vector identities, line, surface and volume integrals, Stokes, Gauss, and Green’s theorems.
Differential equations First-order equation (linear and nonlinear), second-order linear differential equations with constant coefficients, Method of variation of parameters, Cauchy’s and Euler’s equations, Initial and boundary value problems, solution of partial differential equations: variable separable method.
Analysis of complex variables Analytic functions, Cauchy’s integral theorem, integral formula, Taylor’s and Laurent’s series, residue theorem, and solution of integrals.
Probability and Statistics Sampling theorems, conditional probability, mean, median, mode, standard deviation, and variance, random variables: discrete and continuous distributions: normal, Poisson, and binomial distributions.
Numerical Methods Matrix inversion, solutions of nonlinear algebraic equations, iterative methods for solving differential equations, numerical integration, regression, and correlation analysis.

General Biotechnology Syllabus

The General Biotechnology section of Biotechnology consists of various important topics such as uncompetitive inhibition, competence, immunization, and a lot more. Let us discuss the topics provided in the table below.

Sections Topics
Biochemistry

Biomolecules– structure and function, Biological membranes, molecular motors, action potential and transport processes, Basic concepts and regulation of the metabolism of carbohydrates, lipids, amino acids and nucleic acids, photosynthesis, respiration and electron transport chain.

Enzymes– Classification, catalytic and regulatory strategies.

Enzyme inhibition– competitive, non-competitive and uncompetitive inhibition.

Microbiology

Bacterial classification and diversity, Microbial Ecology- microbes in marine, freshwater, 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.

Immunology 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 host reaction, Immunization and vaccines.

Genetics and Cellular Biology Syllabus

The Genetics and Cellular Biology section of the GATE Biotechnology syllabus 2024 carries various topics like Genetic disorders, Molecular structure of genes and chromosomes, Extracellular matrix, etc. Let us see all the important topics covered in this section:

  • Genetics and Evolutionary Biology: Mendelian inheritance, Gene interaction, Complementation, Linkage, recombination and chromosome mapping, Extrachromosomal 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.
  • Cell Biology: Prokaryotic and eukaryotic cell structure, cell cycle and cell growth control, Cell-cell communication, Cell signaling, and signal transduction, Post-translational modifications, Protein trafficking, Cell death, and autophagy, Extracellular matrix.
  • Molecular Biology: Molecular structure of genes and chromosomes, Mutations and mutagenesis, Regulation of gene expression, Nucleic acid– replication, transcription, splicing, translation and their regulatory mechanisms, Non-coding and microRNA, RNA interference, DNA damage, and repair.

Fundamentals of Biological Engineering Syllabus

The Fundamentals of Biological Engineering section of the GATE Biotechnology syllabus 2024 carries electron balance, Conductive and convective heat transfer, Mixing in bioreactors, Laws of thermodynamics, etc. Let us explore the complete description of this section:

Sections Topics
Engineering Principles applied to biological systems

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.

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

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 a bioreactor, kLa and its measurement, Conductive and convective heat transfer, LMTD, overall heat transfer coefficient, Heat exchangers.

Bioprocess Engineering and Process Biotechnology Syllabus

The Bioprocess Engineering and Process Biotechnology section of the GATE Biotechnology syllabus 2024 carries various important topics like Thiele modulus, Filtration, tuning of controllers, etc. Check out the important topics covered in this section:

  • Bioreaction Engineering: 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.
  • Upstream and Downstream Processing: 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.
  • Instrumentation and Process Control: Pressure, temperature, and flow measurement devices, Valves, First-order and second-order systems, Feedback and feedforward control, Types of controllers– proportional, derivative, and integral control, tuning of controllers.

Syllabus of Plant, Animal, and Microbial Biotechnology

Plant, Animal, and Microbial Biotechnology of the GATE syllabus for Biotechnology carries various topics like methodology, Plastid transformation, Culture media composition, and growth conditions, Biofuels, antibiotics, etc. Check out important topics covered in this section:

Sections Topics
Plants

Totipotency- Regeneration of plants, Plant growth regulators and elicitors, Tissue culture and cell suspension culture system – methodology, the 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.

Animals Culture media composition and growth conditions, Animal cell and tissue preservation, Anchorage and non-anchorage dependent cell culture, Kinetics of cell growth, Micro macro-carrier culture, Hybridoma technology, Stem cell technology, Animal cloning, Transgenic animals, Knock-out and knock-in animals.
Microbes

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

Syllabus of Recombinant DNA Technology and Other Tools in Biotechnology

Recombinant DNA technology and Other Tools in Biotechnology is an important section of the GATE Syllabus in Biotechnology. It consists of various topics like DNA library, RAPD, RFLP, Enzymatic assays, Gene prediction, UV, visible, etc. Check out important topics of the GATE exam syllabus for Biotechnology DNA Technology and other tools:

  • Recombinant DNA Technology: 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 the production of recombinant proteins, Transposons and gene targeting,
  • Molecular tools: 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.
  • Analytical tools: Principles of microscopy– light, electron, fluorescent and confocal, Principles of spectroscopy– UV, visible, CD, IR, fluorescence, FT-IR, MS, NMR, Electrophoresis, Micro-arrays, Enzymatic assays, Immunoassays– ELISA, RIA, immunohistochemistry, immunoblotting, Flow cytometry, Whole-genome, and ChIP-sequencing.
  • Computational tools: 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.

Key Topics in GATE Biotechnology Syllabus

Although all the topics mentioned in the GATE Biotechnology syllabus are important for the exam candidates can prepare a few topics with utmost care to uplift the result. Here are some of the key topics and concepts to focus on while preparing for the exam:

  • Biochemistry
  • Molecular Biology and Genetics
  • Cell Biology
  • Microbiology
  • Immunology
  • Bioinformatics
  • Bioprocess Engineering
  • Biostatistics
  • Plant and Animal Biotechnology
  • Environmental Biotechnology

Books for GATE Biotechnology Syllabus

Candidates will be able to study and grasp the GATE Biotechnology syllabus, topics, and chapters better and perform well in the examination if they know the finest books for exam preparation. In the table provided below, we have mentioned the best books for preparing the syllabus for the GATE Biotechnology exam:

Books Publisher/ Author
Biotechnology Pranav Kumar
GATE Biotechnology G K Publishers
Bioprocess Engineering Principles P. Doran
Immunology Kuby
Molecular Cell Biology Lodish and Baltimore
Fundamentals of Biochemistry Lehninger
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