Syllabus for Biotechnology (BT)
ENGINEERING
MATHEMATICS
Linear Algebra: Matrices and determinants, Systems of linear equations,
Eigen values and Eigen vectors.
Calculus: Limit, continuity and differentiability, Partial
derivatives, Maxima and minima, Sequences and series, Test for convergence,
Fourier Series.
Differential Equations: Linear and nonlinear first order ODEs, higher order ODEs
with constant coefficients, Cauchy’s and Euler’s equations,Laplace transforms,
PDE- Laplace, heat and wave equations.
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 of trapezoidal and Simpson’s rule, Single and multistep methods for
differential equations.
BIOTECHNOLOGY
Microbiology: Prokaryotic and eukaryotic cell structure; Microbial
nutrition, growth and control; Microbial metabolism (aerobic and anaerobic
respiration, photosynthesis); Nitrogen fixation; Chemical basis of mutations
and mutagens; Microbial genetics (plasmids, transformation, transduction,
conjugation); Microbial diversity and characteristic features; Viruses.
Biochemistry: Biomolecules and their conformation; Weak inter-molecular
interactions in biomacromolecules; Chemical and functional nature of enzymes;
Kinetics of single substrate and bi-substrate enzyme catalyzed reactions;
Bioenergetics; Metabolism (Glycolysis, TCA and Oxidative phosphorylation);
Membrane transport and pumps; Cell cycle and cell growth control; Cell
signaling and signal transduction.
Molecular Biology and Genetics: Molecular structure of genes and chromosomes; DNA
replication and control; Transcription and its control; Translational
processes; Regulatory controls in prokaryotes and eukaryotes; Mendelian
inheritance; Gene interaction; Complementation; Linkage, recombination and
chromosome mapping; Extrachromosomal inheritance; Chromosomal variation;
Population genetics; Transposable elements, Molecular basis of genetic diseases
and applications.
Process Biotechnology: Bioprocess technology for the production of cell biomass and
primary/secondary metabolites, such as baker’s yeast, ethanol, citric acid,
amino acids, exo-polysacharides, antibiotics and pigments etc.; Microbial
production, purification and bioprocess application(s) of industrial enzymes;
Production and purification of recombinant proteins on a large scale;
Chromatographic and membrane based bioseparation methods; Immobilization of
enzymes and cells and their application for bioconversion processes.
Aerobic and anaerobic biological
processes for stabilization of solid / liquid wastes; Bioremediation.
Bioprocess Engineering: Kinetics of microbial growth, substrate utilization and
product formation; Simple structured models; Sterilization of air and media;
Batch, fed-batch and continuous processes; Aeration and agitation; Mass
transfer in bioreactors; Rheology of fermentation fluids; Scale-up concepts;
Design of fermentation media; Various types of microbial and enzyme reactors;
Instrumentation in bioreactors.
Plant and Animal Biotechnology: Special features and organization of plant cells; Totipotency;
Regeneration of plants; Plant products of industrial importance; Biochemistry
of major metabolic pathways and products; Autotrophic and heterotrophic growth;
Plant growth regulators and elicitors; Cell suspension culture development:
methodology, kinetics of growth and production formation, nutrient
optimization; Production of secondary metabolites by plant suspension cultures;
Hairy root cultures and their cultivation. Techniques in raising transgencies.
Characteristics of animal cells: Metabolism, regulation and nutritional requirements for
mass cultivation of animal cell cultures; Kinetics of cell growth and product
formation and effect of shear force; Product and substrate transport; Micro
& macro-carrier culture; Hybridoma technology; Live stock improvement;
Cloning in animals; Genetic engineering in animal cell culture; Animal cell
preservation.
Immunology: The origin of immunology; Inherent immunity; Humoral and
cell mediated immunity; Primary and secondary lymphoid organ; Antigen; B and T
cells and Macrophages; Major histocompatibility complex (MHC); Antigen
processing and presentation; Synthesis of antibody and secretion; Molecular
basis of antibody diversity; Polyclonal and monoclonal antibody; Complement;
Antigen-antibody reaction; Regulation of immune response; Immune tolerance;
Hyper sensitivity; Autoimmunity; Graft versus host reaction.
Recombinant DNA Technology: Restriction and modification enzymes; Vectors: plasmid,
bacteriophage and other viral vectors, cosmids, Ti plasmid, yeast artificial
chromosome; cDNA and genomic DNA library; Gene isolation; Gene cloning;
Expression of cloned gene; Transposons and gene targeting; DNA labeling; DNA
sequencing; Polymerase chain reactions; DNA fingerprinting; Southern and
northern blotting; In-situ hybridization; RAPD; RFLP; Site-directed
mutagenesis; Gene transfer technologies; Gene therapy.
Bioinformatics: Major bioinformatics resources (NCBI, EBI, ExPASy);
Sequence and structure databases; Sequence analysis (biomolecular sequence file
formats, scoring matrices, sequence alignment, phylogeny); Genomics and
Proteomics (Large scale genome sequencing strategies; Comparative genomics;
Understanding DNA microarrays and protein arrays); Molecular modeling and
simulations (basic concepts including concept of force fields).
