GATE Biotechnology Syllabus 2024 with Marks Weightage, Download PDF

GATE Biotechnology Syllabus 2024: Aspiring participants of the GATE 2024 Biotechnology (BT) exam must go through the syllabus of Biotechnology (BT). The detailed syllabus for GATE 2024 Biotechnology will be made available by IISc Bangalore alongside the official notification.

GATE Biotechnology Syllabus 2024

The GATE syllabus for Biotechnology (BT) 2024 consists of seven sections – Engineering Mathematics, General Biology Genetics, Cellular and Molecular Biology, Fundamentals of Biological Engineering, Bioprocess Engineering and Process Biotechnology, Plant, Animal and Microbial Biotechnology, Recombinant DNA technology and Other Tools in Biotechnology. Candidates are recommended to understand the entire GATE Biotechnology syllabus 2024 before kick start their preparation. In this article, check the important topics, and subject-wise weightage for GATE Biotechnology syllabus. 

GATE Biotechnology Syllabus 2024 Section Wise 

The GATE Biotechnology exam consists of three sections i.e., General Aptitude, Engineering Mathematics, and core Biotechnology subjects. The weightage of General Aptitude, and  Engineering Mathematics & Biotechnology is 15% and 85% respectively. The detailed topics of GATE Biotechnology syllabus are as follows.

Engineering Mathematics

• Linear Algebra: Matrices and determinants; Systems of linear equations; Eigen values and Eigen vectors.
• Calculus: Limits, continuity and differentiability; Partial derivatives, maxima and minima; Sequences and series; Test for convergence.
• Differential Equations: Linear and nonlinear first order ODEs, higher order ODEs with constant coefficients; Cauchy’s and Euler’s equations; Laplace transforms.
• Probability and Statistics: Mean, median, mode and standard deviation; Random variables; Poisson, normal and binomial distributions; Correlation and regression analysis.
• Numerical Methods: Solution of linear and nonlinear algebraic equations; Integration by trapezoidal and Simpson’s rule; Single step method for differential equations.

General Biology

• Biochemistry: 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.
• 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, Cellular and Molecular Biology

• Genetics and Evolutionary Biology: 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.
• Cell Biology: Prokaryotic and eukaryotic cell structure; Cell cycle and cell growth control; Cell-cell communication; Cell signalling and signal transduction; Post-translational modifications; Protein trafficking; Cell death and autophagy; Extra-cellular 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 micro RNA; RNA interference; DNA damage and repair.

Fundamentals of Biological Engineering

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

Bioprocess Engineering and Process Biotechnology

• 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 feed forward control; Types of controllers – proportional, derivative and integral control, tuning of controllers.

Plant, Animal and Microbial Biotechnology

• Plants: 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.
• Animals: 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.
• Microbes: 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.

Recombinant DNA Technology and Other Tools in Biotechnology

• 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 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; Microarrays; Enzymatic assays; Immunoassays – ELISA, RIA, immunohistochemistry; immunoblotting; Flow cytometry; Whole genome and ChIPsequencing.
• 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.

GATE Biotechnology Syllabus 2024: Official PDF

This year IISc Bangalore is going to host the GATE 2024 Exam. The official GATE Biotechnology syllabus PDF has not been released yet. The link to the official syllabus of GATE Biotechnology will be updated once IISc Bangalore releases the notification.

GATE Biotechnology Syllabus: Section-wise Weightage

In the GATE Biotechnology exam, General Aptitude contributes to 15%, and Engineering Mathematics & Biotechnology subject have 85% of the total weightage. Although the specific weightage of topics within each section of Biotechnology can change every year. However, we have compiled the section-wise weightage based on an analysis of past year’s papers. The following table will give you insights into the important topics of GATE Biotechnology syllabus. 

How to Prepare the GATE Biotechnology Syllabus 2024?

The candidates must follow a strategic approach to excel in GATE exam. Here, we are sharing some tips for effective GATE preparation for Biotechnology paper.

• Understand the Syllabus: Firstly the candidates must go through the complete syllabus and pick out the most important topics of the GATE Biotechnology syllabus. It will help the candidates to identify the topics that require extra attention. Prioritize the study plan accordingly and cover all the important topics first.
• Create a Study Plan: Once you are done with the analysis of the syllabus, make a comprehensive study plan that covers all the topics mentioned in the GATE Biotechnology syllabus. Allocate time for each topic as per your requirement.
• Conceptual Understanding: Conceptual understanding is very crucial to crack the GATE exam. So, instead of just memorizing things, focus on understanding the fundamental principles of each topic.
• Solve Previous Year Papers: Solve previous years’ papers to understand the exam pattern and question types. Solving previous years’ papers also helps the candidates to identify their strong and weak areas and also gives a fair idea of important topics.
• Take Mock Tests: Regularly take mock tests, it will make you familiar with the real exam environment. Analyze your performance after each mock test, identify areas that still need your attantion, and work on improving them. It will also improve your time management skill.
• Create Revision Notes: Develop a habit to note down the important formulas, concepts, and key points for last-minute review.

Best Books to Prepare the GATE Biotechnology Syllabus 2024

Selection of the right study material is vital for success in the GATE Biotechnology exam. Here we are providing a list of some highly recommended books for GATE Biotechnology syllabus paper.

1. Engineering Mathematics by Erwin Kreyszig
2. Gate Guide Biotechnology by GKP publisher
3. Lehninger Principles of Biochemistry by David L. Nelson and Michael Cox
4. Principles of Genetics by D. Peter Snustad and Michael J. Simmons

GATE Biotechnology Exam Pattern 

The GATE Biotechnology paper contains questions based on General Aptitude, Engineering Mathematics, and core Biotechnology subjects. The GATE Biotechnology exam has 65 questions with a total of 100 marks. The total allotted time for this computer-based test is 3 hours. The GATE exam Biotechnology paper has Multiple choice questions, Multiple select questions, and Numerical Answer Type questions. The given table contains all the important details about the GATE exam pattern for Biotechnology.