LIFE SCIENCE NET COACHING IN DELHI

NET LIFE SCIENCE ANALYSIS OF TRENDS; MOL BIO, RDT, APPLIED BIOLOGY

Dr. CHARU S.

MOLECULAR BIOLOGY,  RDT AND APPLIED BIOLOGY

ANALYSIS OF THE TRENDS OF CSIR QUESTION PAPER....

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Dear students, 

At Grassroots, we take the initiative and the responsibility to provide support and guidance to our students beyond classroom teaching.

This analysis deals with the integrated domains of Molecular Biology, Biomolecular and Recombinant DNA Techniques and  Genomics. Areas of applied biology including transgenics  and gene therapy etc are also included here.

These areas are highly interesting, being some of the frontier areas of research today...... 

Applied biology areas such as transgenics, gene therapy, marker assisted selection are already making an impact upon our daily lives. This is possible through application of  bio-molecular and Recombinant DNA techniques and genomics. Indeed this does not end here….applying a technique to produce a product (say a GMO) may sound very glamorous and worthy of study J. However in order to develop and apply a technology, requires an in-depth understanding of  the basic phenomenon…….in this case, Molecular Biology.  

During classroom teaching, we devote 70-80hrs to these domains, supported by extensive illustrations and problem solving. As must be clear from above, students must develop a good base in the basic concepts of molecular biology to understand Recombinant DNA technology and applied biology.  

There are no short cuts………

As we analyse the trends of the previous CSIR paper, it is clear that 5-7 questions in part B and 10-13 in part C are from these areas (see table below). 

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TOPICWISE ANALYSIS OF QUESTIONS

Year Topics	Dec 2014 Parts		June 2014		Dec 2013		June 2013		Dec 2012		June 2012		Dec 2011		June 2011
	B	C	B	C	B	C	C	B	B	C	B	C	B	C	B	C
DNA structure, Gene and Genome Organization, chromosomes, chromatin,  transposons etc,	1			1		1		2		1		1		1		2
DNA Replication, Recombination and  Repair	1	2	1		2	2	1	1	1	2		1	1		1
Transcription and RNA processing	2	1					1	1		1	1		1	1	1	1
Translation, Translational regulation, post-translational  and Protein modifications	1	3	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	2
Gene regulation, operons, RNA interference, chromatin remodelling, DNA methylation  etc.		3	2	2	4	2	1	2	1	2	1	1	1		1	2
Bimolecular  and Recombinant DNA Techniques, Genomics,  transgenic plants and animals, Mol markers and MAS	1	3	1	2	1	4	1	2	1	4	3	6	1	6
Viral molecular genetics				1	1	1	1		1	1		1		1	1
Total questions	6	12	5	7	9	11	6	10	6	13	6	11	5	10	5	7

  
It is clear that regulation of gene expression is  a key area of focus in these papers. Regulation at the level of transcription, translation , and post-translational modifications  are important.

Operons are a frequent focus, specifically the lac operon…and in great detail. This does not mean you can skip the other operon systems.

In  eukaryotic regulation, the role of Regulatory RNAs such as siRNA and miRNA, RNA Interference are important. Questions on regulation of gene expression by DNA methylation  and chromatin remodelling  are frequently  asked.

All these are concept based questions.   Students enjoy focussing on these areas……..….but here comes the rider….regulation  is  difficult to understand without understanding of the basic fundamentals of molecular biology.

This is reflected in the fact, that at least twice as many questions  are asked from the fundamentals such as chromatin organization, gene and genome organization, replication , DNA repair, basic transcription, , RNA processing  and Translation.   

Viral genetics, specifically the regulatory cascades are important. A thorough understanding of the lambda phage regulatory cascades may serve well, since it will clarify many concepts of prokaryotic gene regulation in general.

At grassroots, we devote at least 4 hrs to this complicated topic of lambda phage. The lecture is  supported by extensive illustrations to create a basic imagery of the entire process. We feel this task is well worth the effort in helping the students.

When it comes to bimolecular and recombinant  techniques, there  are two styles of questions……..technical and analytical. …..1. Where the question itself is technical, ie. PCR,  restriction digestion, sequencing  or expression vectors  OR …..2. A technique is used to generate data which is then used to interpret  some basic concept of  transcription,  translation or regulation. …….here again if  you are not clear about the basic concepts, knowledge of the technique does not help, since you cannot the interpret the data.

Finally, in   applied biology,  technologies for creating  genetically modified plants  and animals are important. Agrobacterium  based gene transfer technology is  a favourite topic. Site specific recombination, specifically with the cre-lox system,  molecular  markers can be focused upon.

We hope this helps. An investment of time on this area of the syllabus is well worth the effort.

Contribution of Mr Tahir Iqbal is acknowledged in help with compiling the tables.  As always team effort brings out the best :). 

All the best in  your exams. Keep visiting for more updates.....