Unit 1: Biotechnology Part 01
Topics Covered:
● A
bout S&T Paper
● Cell Basics
● Virus
● DNA
● RNA
Science and Technology
Relevance of Science and Technology in UPSC Exam:
Prelims Mains
Syllabus: Syllabus:
● General Science ● Science and
Technology-
developments and
their applications
and effects in
everyday life
achievements of
Indians in science
and technology;
indigenization of
technology and
developmentofnew
technology.
● Awareness in the
fields of IT, space,
computers, nuclear
technology, defence,
PW OnlyIAS 1 Daily Class Notes
robotics,
nano-technology,
bio-technology, and
issues relating to
intellectual property
rights.
Questions Being Asked: Questions Asked:
● Number of Questions- 12 to 15. ● GS III:3-5 questions.
● SomequestionsofEnvironment,Current ● GS I: Some
Affairs, andPhysicalGeographycanalso questions in
be solved using scientific aptitude. Geography are
related to Science
and Technology.
● GS II: Some
questions in Polity
are also related to
Science and
Technology like the
urrogacy
S
egulation Bill.
R
Sources:
● Class Notes
● NCERT
● Reference Book
● Newspaper and a Magazine
Biotechnology:
Basic Concepts/ Basics of Biology:
What is Biology?
● Biologyisthestudyoflife/living organisms wherelifeisthetotalsum
of biochemical reactions in the cell.
Characteristic of Living Beings:
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● Reproduction: Living beings can reproduce, creating new individuals of
their kind. Reproduction can be asexual (involving a single parent) or
sexual(involving two parents and the exchange of genetic material).
● Cellular Organization: Livingbeingsarecomposed of one or more cells.
Cells are the basic structural and functional units oflife.Theycanbe
unicellular (consisting of a single cell) or multicellular (made up of
multiple cells).
● Metabolism: Living organisms exhibit metabolism, which involves the
set of chemical reactions that sustain life. Metabolism includes
processeslikeenergy acquisition, storage, andutilisation,aswellasthe
ynthesis and breakdown of molecules.
s
daptation: Living beings can adapt to their environment over time.
A
●
This may involve behavioural, physiological, or genetic changes that
enhance their chances of survival and reproduction in a given
environment. Adaptation can be:
○ Short-term (e.g., migration): Behavioural changes or immediate
responses to environmental conditions.
○ Long-term (e.g., evolution): Genetic changes accumulated over
generations, leadingtothedevelopmentofnewtraitssuitedto
the environment.
Virus:
● Virusesareconsideredalink betweenlivingandnon-livingthings.They
are living because they can reproduce, but they are also non-livingas
theylack cell structure and metabolism.
● Whenavirusentersacell,ittakes control of the cell's machinery.The
virususesthecell’senergytoproduceitsownproteinsandmakemany
copiesofitself.Thisprocessiscalledreproduction.Indoingso,thecellis
eventually destroyed.
Types of Virus On Basis of Genetic Material:
● DNA Virus:
○ Genetic material is DNA.
PW OnlyIAS 3 Daily Class Notes
○ For Example:Pox Virus, Hepatitis Virus.
○ DNA ismore stable and complexbecause it isdouble-stranded.
○ Chances of mutationin DNA islessas it is stable.
● RNA Virus (Retrovirus):
○ Genetic material is RNA.
○ RNAisthefirstgeneticmaterialthatappearsontheEarth,and
this genetic material is only present in Retrovirus.
○ For Example: HIV, Mumps, Nipaah, Polio, Measles, Dengue, Zika,
etc.
○ RNA isless stable and simplebecause it issingle-stranded.
○ Chances of mutationin RNA ismoreas it is less stable.
Types of Virus On Basis of Target/ Infection:
● Animal Viruses: These viruses infect and replicate within animal cells.
Examples:Influenza virus, Herpes simplex virus.
● Plant Viruses: Thesevirusesinfect and replicatewithinplantcells.They
can cause various plant diseases, affecting agricultural crops and
horticultural plants. Examples:Tobacco mosaic virus.
● Bacteriophages: Bacteriophages are viruses that specifically infect and
replicate within bacterial cells. They are commonly referred to as
"bacterial viruses."
M
● ycophages: Mycophagesarevirusesthatinfectfungi.Theyspecifically
target and replicate within fungal cells.
Use of Viruses:
● Water Treatment: Viruses can be used to kill harmful bacteria and
algae in water, helping to clean it.
● Study of Evolution: Viruses provide clues about how life evolved and
where it originated.
● Genetic Engineering:Virusesareusedastoolstoinsertnewgenesinto
organisms, aiding in genetic research and biotechnology.
Zoonotic Virus:
● Viruses that get transferred from animals to the human body.
Example: Coronavirus.
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What is a Cell?
● Thecellisthestructuralandfunctionalunitoflife,whichmeansallthe
structureofourbodyismadeupofcells,andallthefunctionswedo,it
is done by the cell.
● Cells, as the fundamental units of life, possess a complex structure
that allows them to carry out various functions necessary for the
existence and functioning of living organisms.
Cell Structure:
● Cell Wall:
○ Itisanon-living andfreely permeable outermostlayerofplant
cells,fungi, bacteria, and some archaea.
○ It serves as a protective and supportive layer and provides
rigidityto the cell structure.
○ Animal cells, unlike the plantandfungicells,do not have a cell
wall.
○ Itisprimarilymadeupofcellulose (themostabundantorganic
matter on earth).
● Cell Membrane (Plasma Membrane):
○ It is a selectively permeable lipid bilayer made up of
hospholipids and proteins.
p
It regulates the passage of substances in and out of the cell,
○
and providesstructural support.
Diffusion, Osmosis, Plasmolysis:
● Consider two containers A and B filled with 1 litre of water
each.
○ In , 100
container A gm of NaCl (salt) is added.
○ In container B,50 gm of NaCl is added.
● Thus,therearetwosolutionswhereinsolute(salt)wasmixed
insolvent (water).
PW OnlyIAS 5 Daily Class Notes
● ContainerAwillbecalledaHypertonic Solutionbecausethere
is a higher solute in the solution. Container B will be called
Hypotonic Solutionbecause there is alower solute in solution.
● Also, it is observed that:
In container A, there is less water and more salt.
○
○ In container B, there is more water and less salt.
Now, if the two solutionsaremixedtogether,thewaterlevel
●
will move from high concentration to low concentration.This
process is called Osmosis. In other words, in osmosis, water
oves from areas of low concentration of solute to areas of
m
igh concentration of solute.
h
When a
● nything o ther t han w ater m oves f rom h igh
concentration to low concentration thenthatprocessiscalled
Diffusion.Inotherwords,asubstancetendstomovefroman
area of high concentration to an area of low concentration
until its concentration becomes equal throughout a space.
● When a living cell (river fish) is exposed to an extreme
hypertonic solution (ocean), it will lose its water drastically.
Thiswillleadtodehydrationandinextremeconditions,itmay
cause deathof that cell. This process is calledPlasmolysis.
● Extremely hypertonicsolutionactsaspreservativesbecauseit
kills the decomposition agents (bacteria or fungi).
● Nucleus:
PW OnlyIAS 6 Daily Class Notes
○ Membrane-bound organellecontaining genetic material.
○ It controls cellular activities, houses genetic information, and
directsprotein synthesis.
● Cytoplasm:
○ It is agel-like substancefilling the cell'sinterior.
○ It supports organelles and cellular structures and serves as a
medium for intracellulartransport.
○ Cell Organelles:
■ Mitochondria→ Found in both animal and plant cells.
■ Plastid→ Only found inplant cells.
■ Endoplasmic Reticulum → Found in both animal and
plant cells.
■ Ribosomes→ Found in both animal and plant cells.
■ Golgi Bodies→ Found in both animal and plant cells.
■ Lysosomes→ Found in animal cells.
■ Centrosome→ Only found inanimal cells.
■ Vacuole→ Found in both animal and plant cells.
Cell Organelles:
Mitochondria:
● It is a double-membraned
organelles and has its own
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DNA called Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA having 37 genes). Because of
this, mitochondria are asemi-autonomousstructure.
● It produces ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate), energy currency of the cell,
through the breakdown of nutrients. Therefore it is called the
owerhouse of the cell.
p
It converts potential energy to work energy.
●
Plastid:
● Plastid has a double-layered structure and has its own DNA and
therefore it issemi-autonomous.
● It acts asan antioxidant.
○ Free radicals are extremely reactive byproducts coming out of
metabolicactivitiesinsideourcell.Itcanreactwithbiomolecules
in our cell and cancause damage.
○ To minimise activities of free radicals, we include antioxidants
(Vitamin C and E) in our food.
Plastid Pigment Colour Function
Chloroplast Chlorophyll Green ● Helps in the
process of
hotosynthes
p
is.
● Provides
green colour
to plants.
Chromoplast a. Carotene —> range-r
O ● Helps in the
d—--->
e
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process of
hotosynthes
p
is.
b. Xanthophyll - Yellow
Provide
●
—--------
ellow colour
y
>
to fruits and
flowers.
Leucoplast No-pigment olourles
C Storage of food.
s
Example:
Starch
(found in
Potato)
● Chlorophyll, aplastid,hasmagnesium atoms initscorewhichhelpsin
arvesting solar energy similar to silicon solar cells.
h
arotene is a provitamin A that means carotene is converted into
C
●
vitamin A (Retinol) in our liver.
● Pigments:
○ Lycopenegives ared colour to tomatoes.
○ Anthocyanin is responsible for the red, blue, and purple colours
depending on pH level, seen in various fruits and vegetables,
including blueberries
and brinjals.
Ribosomes:
● These are small particles
omposed of RNA and
c
roteins.
p
● It is a s ite of protein
synthesis.
Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER):
● It is a network of
membrane-bound tubes and sacs.
● It is oftwo types:
PW OnlyIAS 9 Daily Class Notes
ough
○ R Endoplasmic
eticulum (with ribosomes)
R
helps in protein synthesis. It
is more in number as
compared to Smooth
Endoplasmic Reticulum.
○ Smooth Endoplasmic Reticulum (without ribosomes) is
associated withlipid .
synthesis
Golgi Body:
● It is astack of flattened membranes.
● It helps in storage, modification, packaging and delivery (secretion) of
proteins.Therefore it is also called asecretary organ.
Cell Organelles:
Lysosomes:
● It originates from Golgi Bodies.
● Itiscalledthesuicidalbagofthecell
because it contains a powerful
PW OnlyIAS 10 Daily Class Notes
digestive enzyme, which when released is capable of digesting off its
own cell and hence leading to thedeath of the cell.
● But it never kills any healthy cells. It kills only those cells which are
infected, worn-out, old and damaged.
● Maximum number of lysosomes are present in White Blood Cells
(WBCs).
Centrosome:
● It is responsible forcell division.
Vacuole:
● It is theempty .
space in the cytoplasm
● It covers 90 percent of the volume in the
plant cells whereas in the animal cells, it
covers a muchsmaller .
space
● It acts like a storage-sac for solid and liquid
content(sugar, protein, waste material).
Nucleus:
● The nucleus is thebrain/control centre of the cell.
● The nucleus has a double-layered covering calledNuclear Membrane.
● Whenacellisinaresting state thenthesquiggly, tangledthread-like
structure (DNAandprotein)insidethenucleusiscalledChromatin.Itis
made of:
○ DNAwhich hasgeneticinformation
○ Histone protein does not contain any genetic information but
the thread is wrapped around it. A histone is a protein that
provides structural support for a chromosome.
PW OnlyIAS 11 Daily Class Notes
● When a cell
is about to
divide, the
chromatin
gets
organised
into
Chromosomes. Itisarod-like structure,composedofDNAandproteins.
There are46 (23 pairs of) chromosomes.
● The number of chromosomes is always specific in a species.
Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA):
● Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) is in a double helical structure and is a
genetic material of the cell.
● The functional segments of DNAarecalledGenes whichistheunit of
inheritance.
It is a biomolecule and a
●
iopolymer.
b
Thenucleotideisthebasic
●
unit (monomer) of DNA.
● DNA or nucleotide is
made up of:
ugar:
○ S Pentose
Sugar or
Deoxyribose Sugar
(C6H10O4)
hosphate G
○ P roup:
Phosphoric cid
A
(H₃PO₄)
itrogen
○ N ase
B
airs:
P Four
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components (ATGC)thatarealways in pairs. Thetotalnitrogen
bases (or DNA) are 3.3 billion.
■ Adenine (A)→ Double hydrogen bond with Thymine
■ Thymine (T)→ Double hydrogen bond with Adenine
■ Guanine (G)→ Triple hydrogen bond with Cytosine
■ Cytosine (C)→ Triple hydrogen bond with Guanine
● Genetic information on DNA is written in the form of a sequence of
Nitrogen base pairs.
● Nucleotides are joined together by phosphodiester bonds, forming the
sugar-phosphate backbone that stabilises the DNA structure.
● Sudden change in DNA or genetic material is known asMutation.
Genes:
● Genes areunits of inheritance.
● Genes carry information or genetic traits from one generation to the
ext generation.
n
Normally one gene determines one character but sometimesasingle
●
character can be determined by more than one gene known as the
Polygenic Effect.Ex: Skin Colour.
● Genes arecarried bychromosomesfrom one generation to the next.
Genetic Language:
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● Alphabets (Nitrogen Bases): Thereare4alphabets:A, G, C, and T which
are also known as Nitrogenous bases.
● Words (Triplets Code):Only3letterwordscanbeformed.Theyarealso
known asTriplets.A total of 64 words has to be formed.
○ Example: AAA, ATA, ATT, AGT, AGG, GCA.
● Sentences (Gene): Words have to be put in any order to form
sentences. These sentences are known as Genes. Genes can be up to
any length and any sequence.
○ Example:ATA – AAA– ATT–GCC.
Ribonucleic Acid (RNA):
● RNA is also apolymer.
● The unit (monomer) of RNA is anucleotide.
● RNA ismade up of:
○ Sugar:Pentose Sugar or Ribose Sugar (C6H
10
O5)
○ Phosphate Group:Phosphoric Acid (H₃PO₄)
○ Nitrogenous bases: They are made of Adenine (A), Guanine(G),
Cytosine (C), and Uracil (U). Thymine (T) is absent in an RNA
nucleotide.
■ Adenine (A) → Bond with Uracil
■ Uracil (U) → Bond with Adenine
■ Guanine (G) → Bond with Cytosine
■ Cytosine (C) → Bond with Guanine
● RNA issingle-strandedtherefore, it isless stable than DNA.
● The role of RNA in animal cells and plant cells is the synthesis of
protein.
Central Dogma of Biology:
● Central Dogmaistheprocessbywhichgenetic information flows only
in one direction that is from DNA, to RNA, to Protein. It involves
following steps:
○ DNA Replication (From existing DNA to create new DNA): DNA
makes an identical copy of itself. This is essential for cell
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division, ensuring each daughter cell receives the same genetic
material.
○ Transcription (From DNA to produce new RNA): Theinformation
stored in a gene's DNA is transferred to a messenger RNA
(mRNA) molecule. During this process, an RNA sequence is
synthesised using a DNA template.
○ Translation (From RNA to generate new proteins): ThemRNAis
readbyaribosometosynthesiseproteins.TransferRNA(tRNA)
molecules bring the appropriate amino acids to the ribosome,
where the sequence of mRNA codons is translated into a
sequence of amino acids, forming a protein (the specific
sequenceofnucleotidesinthemRNAmoleculeprovidesthecode
fortheproductionofaproteinwithaspecificsequenceofamino
acids).
NOTE:
● Reverse Transcription: In certain organisms, like retroviruses (e.g., HIV),
RNA is converted back into DNA. This reverse process is mediated by
the enzyme reverse transcriptase, allowing the viral RNA genome to
integrate into the host DNA.
● Ribosomal RNA (rRNA) is a type of RNA that, along with proteins,
forms the structure of ribosomes, which are the molecular machines
responsible for synthesising proteins in cells.
Some Terminology Related to Genetics:
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● Genome:It is theentire set of DNA instructionsfound in a cell.
● Genomics:It is thestudy of the genomeof an organism.
● Transcriptome: ThetotalofallthemessengerRNAmoleculesexpressed
from the genes of an organism.
● Transcriptomic: Transcriptomic is the study of messenger RNA
involving gene expression and gene functionality.
● Proteome: Itistheentire setofproteinsthatisorcanbeexpressedby
a cell, tissue, or organism.
● Proteomics: It is the study of proteome to differentiate between two
close or similar species.
● Metabolome: The complete set of small-molecule metabolites (suchas
sugars, amino acids, and lipids) produced by an organism during
metabolism.
● Metabolomics: Itisthestudy ofmetabolomestodifferentiatebetween
genetically modified crops (GM crops) or normal crops and healthyor
diseased cells.
PW OnlyIAS 16 Daily Class Notes
