GAT-B Syllabus

Comprehensive Guide to the GAT-B 2026 Syllabus

The Graduate Aptitude Test-Biotechnology (GAT-B) is one of the most competitive entrance examinations for life science and biotechnology graduates in India. Conducted annually by the National Testing Agency (NTA), the exam assesses candidates on their foundational scientific knowledge as well as their advanced, graduate-level understanding of biological sciences.

To formulate a winning preparation strategy, candidates must have a thorough grasp of the official (https://exams.nta.nic.in/gat-bet/) GAT-B syllabus. The question paper is uniquely structured into two distinct parts: Section A, which tests basic 10+2 sciences, and Section B, which delves deeply into core biotechnology, biochemistry, and allied areas.

GAT-B Exam Pattern Overview

Before diving into the subject-wise topics, candidates must understand how the sections are distributed and evaluated to plan their attempting strategy.

Section A Syllabus (10+2 Level)

Section A consists of 60 mandatory questions covering 10+2 level Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Biology. A strong, conceptual grasp of the standard NCERT curriculum is generally sufficient to score high in this section.

Physics

• Mechanics & Kinematics: Laws of Motion, Work, Energy, and Power, Motion of System of Particles and Rigid Body, Gravitation.

• Thermodynamics & Matter: Properties of Bulk Matter, Thermodynamics, Behaviour of Perfect Gas and Kinetic Theory, Oscillations and Waves.

• Electromagnetism: Electrostatics, Current Electricity, Electromagnetic Induction and Alternating Currents, Magnetic Effects of Current and Magnetism, Electromagnetic Waves.

• Modern Physics & Optics: Optics, Dual Nature of Matter and Radiation, Atoms and Nuclei, Electronic Devices, Communication Systems.

Chemistry

• Physical Chemistry: Some Basic Concepts of Chemistry, Structure of Atom, States of Matter, Thermodynamics, Equilibrium, Chemical Kinetics, Surface Chemistry, Electrochemistry, Solid State, Solutions.

• Inorganic Chemistry: Classification of Elements, Chemical Bonding and Molecular Structure, Redox Reactions, Hydrogen, s-Block, p-Block, d and f-Block Elements, Coordination Compounds.

• Organic Chemistry: Basic Principles and Techniques, Hydrocarbons, Haloalkanes and Haloarenes, Alcohols, Phenols and Ethers, Aldehydes, Ketones and Carboxylic Acids, Organic Compounds Containing Nitrogen, Biomolecules, Polymers, Chemistry in Everyday Life, Environmental Chemistry.

Mathematics

• Algebra & Calculus: Sets and Functions, Algebra, Calculus, Relations and Functions.

• Geometry: Coordinate Geometry, Vectors and Three-Dimensional Geometry.

• Statistics: Mathematical Reasoning, Statistics, and Probability.

Biology (10+2)

• Diversity in Living World, Structural Organisation in Animals and Plants, Cell Structure and Function.

• Plant Physiology, Human Physiology.

• Reproduction, Genetics and Evolution, Biology and Human Welfare, Biotechnology and Its Applications, Ecology and Environment.

Section B Syllabus (Graduate Level)

Section B is the core of the GAT-B examination. It features 100 questions, out of which candidates must selectively attempt 60. The topics cover advanced bachelor's level biotechnology, making it the most critical part of the exam.

Biomolecules and Biochemistry

• Structure and functions of biological membranes, action potential, and transport processes.

• Enzymes: classification, kinetics, and mechanism of action.

• Basic concepts and designs of metabolism (carbohydrates, lipids, amino acids, and nucleic acids).

• Photosynthesis, respiration, and the electron transport chain.

Cell Biology and Microbiology

• Cell Biology: Prokaryotic and eukaryotic cell structure, cell cycle and cell growth control, cell-cell communication, and signal transduction.

• Microbiology: Viruses (structure and classification), microbial classification and diversity (bacterial, algal, and fungal). Microbial growth and nutrition, aerobic and anaerobic respiration, nitrogen fixation, microbial diseases, and host-pathogen interactions.

Genetics and Molecular Biology

• Molecular structure of genes and chromosomes, mutations, and mutagenesis.

• Nucleic acid replication, transcription, translation, and their regulatory mechanisms in prokaryotes and eukaryotes.

• Mendelian inheritance, gene interaction, complementation.

• Linkage and bacterial genetics (plasmids, transformation, transduction, conjugation).

Immunology

• History of Immunology; Innate, humoral, and cell-mediated immunity.

• Antigen and Antibody structure and function; molecular basis of antibody diversity; synthesis of antibody and secretion.

• Antigen-antibody reactions, complement system, primary and secondary lymphoid organs, B and T cells, macrophages, and Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC).

Recombinant DNA Technology

• Restriction and modification enzymes.

• Cloning Vectors: plasmids, bacteriophages, cosmids, Ti-plasmid, yeast artificial chromosomes, mammalian and plant expression vectors.

• cDNA and genomic DNA libraries, gene isolation, cloning, and expression.

• Transposons and gene targeting, DNA labeling, and DNA sequencing.

Plant and Animal Biotechnology

• Plant Tissue Culture: Totipotency, plant growth regulators, tissue culture and cell suspension systems, micropropagation, anther and microspore culture, protoplast isolation and fusion, transgenic plants.

• Animal Cell Culture: Media composition, anchorage and non-anchorage dependent cell culture, kinetics of cell growth, hybridoma technology, stem cell technology, animal cloning, and transgenic animals.

Bioprocess Engineering and Industrial Biotechnology

• Chemical engineering principles applied to biological systems: principle of reactor design, ideal and non-ideal multiphase bioreactors, mass and heat transfer.

• Rheology of fermentation fluids, aeration and agitation, media formulation and optimization.

• Kinetics of microbial growth, substrate utilization, and product formation.

• Production of biomass, primary/secondary metabolites, biofuels, bioplastics, industrial enzymes, and antibiotics.

Bioinformatics and Analytical Techniques

• Bioinformatics: Major resources and search tools, sequence and structure databases, sequence analysis (scoring matrices, alignment, phylogeny), data mining tools, and molecular dynamics.

• Techniques: Principles of microscopy (light, electron, fluorescent, confocal), centrifugation, spectroscopy (UV, visible, CD, IR, MS, NMR), chromatography (ion exchange, gel filtration, affinity, HPLC), electrophoresis, and microarray.

Topic-Wise Weightage for Section B

While the NTA does not release an official weightage distribution, analyzing past year question papers reveals a consistent pattern in Section B.