Category 1 · Science & Technology

Cell Biology and Genetics

12 micro topics in Science & Technology for UPSC Prelims, in book order: Chemical Building Blocks of Life (Biomolecules); History and Origin of Life on Earth; and 10 more.

1.1

Chemical Building Blocks of Life (Biomolecules)

Biomolecules are the organic compounds that make up living cells and carry out the work of life. The four major classes are carbohydrates, lipids, proteins and nucleic acids, and each is built from smaller units joined…
1.2

History and Origin of Life on Earth

The origin of life is the question of how the first living cells arose from non-living matter on the early Earth, which formed about 4.5 billion years ago. The widely accepted scientific view is chemical evolution:…
1.3

Cell Structure: Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic Cells

The cell is the basic structural and functional unit of life. Cell theory, developed by Matthias Schleiden and Theodor Schwann in 1838 to 1839 and completed by Rudolf Virchow in 1855, says that all living things…
1.4

Cell Membranes and Cell-Cell Communication/Interactions

The cell membrane, or plasma membrane, is the thin boundary that separates a cell from its surroundings and controls what enters and leaves. The fluid mosaic model, proposed by S.J. Singer and Garth Nicolson in 1972,…
1.5

Cellular Respiration and Energy Metabolism (ATP Production)

Cellular respiration is the set of chemical reactions in which cells break down glucose and other food molecules to release energy and store it as ATP, adenosine triphosphate, the energy currency of the cell. In aerobic…
1.6

Cell Division: Mitosis and Meiosis

Cell division is the process by which a parent cell divides to form daughter cells. It is of two main kinds. Mitosis produces two genetically identical daughter cells with the same chromosome number as the parent,…
1.7

Sexual Reproduction at the Cellular Level

Sexual reproduction at the cellular level is the formation of male and female gametes by meiosis and their fusion in fertilisation to form a diploid zygote. In animals, gametes form by gametogenesis: spermatogenesis in the testes…
1.8

Inheritance Mechanisms (Mendelian Genetics)

Mendelian genetics is the study of how traits pass from parents to offspring according to the rules found by Gregor Johann Mendel, an Austrian monk who experimented on garden pea plants in the 1850s and 1860s.…
1.9

DNA and RNA: Structure and Function

DNA, deoxyribonucleic acid, is the molecule that stores genetic information in almost all living organisms, and RNA, ribonucleic acid, helps to read and use that information to make proteins. James Watson and Francis Crick described the…
1.10

Gene Expression and Control of Gene Activity (Gene Regulation)

Gene expression is the process by which the information in a gene is used to make a functional product, usually a protein. It has two main steps: transcription, in which a section of DNA is copied…
1.11

Genetic Mutations: Types and Causes

A mutation is a permanent change in the DNA sequence of a gene or chromosome. Mutations may involve a single base, called a point mutation, or large parts of chromosomes, or even whole sets of chromosomes.…
1.12

Recombinant DNA Technology

Recombinant DNA technology is the set of methods used to cut DNA from different sources, join the pieces to form a new combination, and put it into a host cell where it can be copied and…

← All Science & Technology categories

Frequently asked questions

Which topics are in Cell Biology and Genetics?

Cell Biology and Genetics has 12 micro topics in Science & Technology: Chemical Building Blocks of Life (Biomolecules); History and Origin of Life on Earth; Cell Structure: Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic Cells; Cell Membranes and Cell-Cell Communication/Interactions; Cellular Respiration and Energy Metabolism (ATP Production); Cell Division: Mitosis and Meiosis; Sexual Reproduction at the Cellular Level; Inheritance Mechanisms (Mendelian Genetics); DNA and RNA: Structure and Function; Gene Expression and Control of Gene Activity (Gene Regulation); Genetic Mutations: Types and Causes; Recombinant DNA Technology.

Is Cell Biology and Genetics important for UPSC Prelims?

Cell Biology and Genetics is a part of the UPSC Prelims Science & Technology syllabus map on MaargX UPSC. Each of its 12 published topics has key terms, a Mains angle and practice questions.