ANALYSIS CELL BIOLOGY FOR CSIR NET LIFE SCIENCE EXAM (UNIT - 2)

BROAD ANALYSIS OF CELL BIOLOGY IN CSIR-NET EXAM

Dr. MOHIT GUPTA

(For Grassroots Academy, Delhi)

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

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 BROAD ANALYSIS OF CELL BIOLOGY IN CSIR-NET EXAM

Exam Year	Part - B	Part - C
Dec 2016	3	6
June 2016	6	5
Dec 2015	3	6
June 2015	5	5
Dec 2014	2	7
June 2014	3	6
Dec 2013	6	7
June 2013	3	6
Dec 2012	3	7
June 2012	6	4

Cell Biology (CB) is one of the widest subjects in the syllabus and regularly large numbers of questions are being asked and are quite useful in cracking the exam. The problem with this subject is that no single book can be recommended, and different author’s present different perspectives……..another issue is that animal cell biology differs slightly from plant cell biology e.g. Most plants are immune to cyanide poisoning where as animals are prone to cyanide……many a times clinical perspectives are asked…for which we have medical cell biology books …….so it becomes difficult for a student to get the entire perspective…..

As we can analyze in the table above that consistently 6-7 questions are being asked from cell biology in Part-C and one has to only attempt 25 questions in Part-C  i.e. approx 30%. In Part-B there seems to be inconsistent pattern, from minimum of 2 to maximum 6 questions…….nevertheless CB can contribute immensely to your success.

CB questions in Part-B are pretty direct…….but to solve Part-C one needs deeper and thorough analysis as questions are experimental in nature….and one needs to study standard authors..e.g  Alberts……./ Lodish……../ Karp……../ Pollard…./ Cooper…./ Wayne....../ Cell by Lewin…/…..No Indian authors are recommended..

Experimental nature of some questions in Part-C

Q.  A pharmacy student designed a drug to specifically target the receptors for retinoic acid in order to prevent stem cell differentiation. After in vitro trial, the investigaton found that the cells underwent differentiation and the drug seemed to be ineffective. The following reasons were given by the student

A.  The size of the drug exceeded the size of molecules that could cross the membrane

B.  The drug small in size but hydrophobic in nature

C.  The drug did not bind to its receptors

Which of the above could be the probable reason for drug ineffectiveness?

1. Only C                              2.  A and C                           3. A, B and C                                       4. Only B

Q. You have isolated a short chain polypeptide from a bacteria which upon administering to animal cells in culture is demonstrated to get transport to mitochondria and to cause mitochondrial membrane disruption. This peptide is being considered for its therapeutic effects on cancer and is to be tested for its anticancer properties in the following models of the disease.

A. cancer with Apaf-1 mutation

B. cancer where Bax genes are inactivated.

C. cancer where Bak genes are inactivated.

1. Only A

2. B and C

3. A and B

4. A and C

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In analysis below…..we have not considered Mitochondria /Respiration & Chloroplast/Photosynthesis as they are part of Plant Physiology in CSIR-NET syllabus.

Inferences drawn from past papers are......

1. Questions from Membrane and membrane transport are consistently being asked…..2-3 questions every exam….so be thorough……..especially lipid composition n types in membranes…………role of temperature and composition in influencing membrane fluidity…….importance of membrane asymmetry…..Lipid Raft…....Liposomes etc….and certain techniques like Freeze fractured ……..hydropathycurve…….FRAP etc.

2. Another area of utmost importance is Molecular basis of Cell cycle and Cancer……..these are related topics because any defect in cell cycle regulation can result in cancer development…….3 - 4 questions have been asked every time..so have deeper analysis of these topics……and analyze past year net papers to get the feel of questions.

3. Signal Transduction i.e. Cell Signaling is a very wide topic………..with differences in animals, plants and bacterial signaling mechanisms………this topic assumes importance as we can get direct questions from here and indirectly this area helps in solving questions from cancer biology.

4. Questions from Endomembrane system ( ER, Golgi, Lysosomes, Endosomes, Vesicular transp, Exo & Endocytosis) are also consistant………out of 9 questions asked 6 are from Part-C.

5. Cellular Communication i.e. cell-cell interaction and ECM…..is equally important especially for Part-B…..every exam question has popped up from here….though simple in nature.

6. The analysis shows an important facet i.e. very few asked from Cytoskeleton…….even though this topic is one of the widest in cell biology…….and it takes multiple lectures to cover it……but indirect questions on microtubules have been asked in relation to cell cycle…ie spindle fibres……but one cannot take a chance.

Hope the above analysis helps you in planning your strategy for the coming exam…and remember “There is no short cut to success”