IIT Madras has released the revised GATE Biotechnology syllabus 2027. The BT paper covers Engineering Mathematics, General Biology, genetics and molecular biology, biological engineering, plant, animal and microbial biotechnology, and recombinant DNA and analytical tools. The paper has 65 questions for 100 marks.

The revised BT PDF has six numbered sections, not seven. The former Bioprocess Engineering and Process Biotechnology section is now included within Fundamentals of Biological Engineering. The new syllabus also names Bayesian statistics, vector calculus, deeper microbiology and immunology topics, and updated molecular tools.

GATE BT Syllabus 2027 Highlights

GATE BT Syllabus 2027 at a Glance

The BT syllabus brings biology and engineering together. General Biology and Genetics explain cells, organisms and inheritance. Biological Engineering covers reactors, enzyme and cell-growth models, processing and control. Plant, animal and microbial biotechnology covers major applications, while the final section covers recombinant DNA, laboratory methods and computational tools.

The complete subject list comes from the official revised GATE 2027 BT syllabus PDF. Engineering Mathematics is included in the BT marks. General Aptitude is common to every GATE paper.

What Changed in the GATE BT Syllabus 2027?

The GATE 2027 notification specifically mentions an update to the BT syllabus. Comparing the official 2026 and 2027 PDFs shows a new six-section layout and several topic changes.

GATE BT Section-wise Syllabus 2027

1. Engineering Mathematics

Linear Algebra covers matrices, determinants, systems of equations, eigenvalues and eigenvectors. Calculus covers multivariable limits, continuity, differentiation, partial derivatives, maxima and minima, sequences, series, convergence, gradient, divergence and curl.

The section also includes first- and higher-order differential equations, Laplace transforms, probability distributions, correlation, regression, Bayesian statistics and numerical methods for equations, integration and differential equations.

2. General Biology

Biochemistry: Biomolecules, membranes, channels and pumps, molecular motors, transport, metabolism, glycolysis, citric-acid cycle, fatty-acid oxidation, photosynthesis, respiration, electron transport, enzyme classification, Michaelis-Menten kinetics and competitive, non-competitive and uncompetitive inhibition.

Microbiology: History and methods, bacterial classification, cell walls, Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, archaea, growth and nutrition, Lac, Trp and Ara operons, nitrogen fixation, host-pathogen relations, antibiotics, resistance, two-component systems, bacterial communication and viruses.

Immunology: Lymphoid organs, innate immunity, inflammation, cytokines, chemokines, complement, cellular and humoral responses, antibodies, T- and B-cell development, memory, MHC, antigen processing, immune control, tolerance, hypersensitivity, autoimmunity, immunodeficiency, graft-versus-host disease, immunisation and vaccines.

3. Genetics, Cellular and Molecular Biology

Genetics and Evolution: Mendelian inheritance, gene interaction, complementation, linkage, recombination, chromosome mapping, extra-chromosomal inheritance, transformation, transduction, conjugation, bacterial gene mapping, horizontal gene transfer, transposable elements, chromosomal variation, sex determination, genetic disorders, population genetics, epigenetics, selection, genetic drift and speciation.

Cell Biology: Eukaryotic cell structure, cell cycle, growth control, cell communication, signal transduction, non-cell-autonomous signalling, post-translational changes, protein trafficking, cell death, autophagy and extracellular matrix.

Molecular Biology: Genes and chromosomes, mutation, gene-expression control, replication, transcription, splicing, translation, non-coding and micro RNA, RNA interference, DNA damage and repair.

4. Fundamentals of Biological Engineering

Bioreaction Engineering: Zero- and first-order rate laws, Michaelis-Menten and inhibition kinetics, batch, mixed-flow and plug-flow reactors, enzyme immobilisation, diffusion effects, Thiele modulus, effectiveness factor, Damkoehler number, cell-growth and product models, batch, fed-batch and continuous processes, microbial and enzyme reactors, optimisation and scale-up.

Upstream and Downstream Processing: Media design, sterilisation, membrane filtration, ultrafiltration, centrifugation, cell disruption, ion exchange, gel filtration, hydrophobic interaction and affinity chromatography, GC, HPLC, FPLC, extraction, adsorption and drying. The section also includes measurement devices, valves, first- and second-order systems, feedback, feed-forward control and controller tuning.

5. Plant, Animal and Microbial Biotechnology

Plant Biotechnology: Totipotency, cell-fate change, organogenesis, plant regeneration, growth regulators, tissue and cell-suspension culture, secondary metabolites, hairy roots, artificial seeds, somaclonal variation, protoplast fusion, transgenic plants, markers, reporter genes and plastid transformation.

Animal Biotechnology: Culture media, growth conditions, cell and tissue preservation, anchorage-dependent and independent culture, cell-growth kinetics, micro- and macro-carrier culture, hybridoma, stem cells, cloning, transgenic animals, and knock-out and knock-in animals.

Microbial Biotechnology: Biomass, biofuels, bioplastics, industrial enzymes, antibiotics, recombinant proteins and metabolites, clinical, food and industrial microbiology, and screening for new products.

6. Recombinant DNA Technology and Other Tools

Recombinant DNA: Restriction and modification enzymes, plasmid and viral vectors, cosmids, Ti plasmid, artificial chromosomes, expression vectors, cDNA and genomic libraries, gene isolation, cloning, recombinant proteins, transposons, gene targeting and recombination-based cloning.

Molecular and Analytical Tools: PCR, DNA/RNA labelling, Sanger and next-generation sequencing, blotting, in-situ hybridisation, fingerprinting, RAPD, RFLP, site-directed mutagenesis, CRISPR-Cas, biosensors, interaction studies, genomics, proteomics, microscopy, spectroscopy, electrophoresis, microarrays, enzyme assays, immunoassays, flow cytometry, whole-genome and ChIP sequencing.

Computational Tools: Databases, sequence formats, scoring matrices, alignment, phylogeny, genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, gene prediction, functional annotation, structure prediction, metagenomics, metabolic engineering and systems biology.

General Aptitude Syllabus

General Aptitude carries 15 marks and covers verbal, quantitative, analytical and spatial aptitude.

GATE BT Exam Pattern and Marks

As per the official GATE 2027 paper pattern, BT has 10 General Aptitude questions and 55 subject questions. Engineering Mathematics is part of the subject portion.

GATE BT Marking Rules

GATE BT Chapter-wise Weightage

IIT Madras has fixed 15 marks for General Aptitude and 13 marks for Engineering Mathematics in BT. It has not given fixed marks for General Biology, Genetics, Biological Engineering or any other BT chapter. Exact topic counts can change in each paper.

The GATE previous-year question papers show how topics appeared in earlier exams. They do not replace the revised 2027 syllabus.

Things to Remember