CUET Biology

Unit-VI: Reproduction

• Sexual Reproduction in Flowering Plants: Pre-fertilisation: structure and events – stamen, microsporangium and pollen grain, pistil, megasporangium and embryo sac; Development of male (microsporogenesis) and female gametophyte (megasporogenesis); Pollination – types, agents and examples; Out breeding devices; Pollen-pistil interaction; Double fertilisation; Post fertilisation: structure and events – development of endosperm and embryo; Formation of seed and fruit and parthenocarpy; Significance of seed in angiosperms; Apomixis and polyembryony.
• Human Reproduction: Male and female reproductive system; Microscopic anatomy of testis and ovary; Gametogenesis – spermatogenesis and oogenesis; Menstrual cycle; Fertilisation, embryo development up to blastocyst formation, implantation; Pregnancy and embryonic development and placenta; Parturition and lactation.
• Reproductive Health: Problems and strategies – amniocentesis; Population stabilisation and birth control – various methods of contraception; Medical termination of pregnancy (MTP); Sexually transmitted infections (STIs); Infertility – Assisted reproductive technologies (IVF, ZIFT, GIFT, ICSI and IUI).

Note for Students: This unit covers the fundamental biological processes of reproduction in both plants and humans, alongside modern reproductive health practices.

Unit-VII: Genetics and Evolution

• Principles of Inheritance and Variation: Mendel’s law of inheritance: Inheritance of one gene – Law of dominance, law of segregation (test and back cross); Deviation from Mendelism – incomplete dominance and co-dominance; Multiple alleles and inheritance of blood groups; Inheritance of two genes – law of independent assortment, dihybrid cross; Chromosomal theory of inheritance; Linkage and recombination; Polygenic inheritance; Pleiotropy; Sex determination in humans, birds and honey bee; Mutation; Genetic disorders – pedigree analysis, Mendelian disorders (colour blindness, haemophilia, sickle-cell anaemia, phenylketonuria and thalassemia), chromosomal disorders in humans (aneuploidy, polyploidy, Down's syndrome, Turner's syndrome and Klinefelter's syndrome).
• Molecular Basis of Inheritance: Structure and packaging of DNA helix; Search for genetic material (transforming principle and Hershey-Chase experiment); Properties of genetic material; Replication (Meselson and Stahl’s experiment); Transcription – transcription unit and gene; RNA world – types of RNA and process of transcription; Genetic code and mutations; tRNA; Translation; Regulation of gene expression – Lac operon; Human Genome Project (goals, salient features and applications); DNA fingerprinting (polymorphism and VNTR).
• Evolution: Origin of life – Miller’s experiment; Concepts of evolution (Darwin's contribution); Evidences for evolution (embryology, paleontology, comparative anatomy, divergent and convergent evolution and industrial evolution); Adaptive radiation; Biological evolution; Natural selection; Mechanism of evolution; Hardy-Weinberg principle and affecting factors (gene migration, genetic drift, mutation, recombination and natural selection); Evolution of plants and vertebrates through geological periods; Origin and evolution of man.

Note for Students: Students will explore the mechanisms of heredity from a Mendelian and molecular perspective, alongside the scientific theories explaining the evolution of life.

Unit-VIII: Biology and Human Welfare

• Human Health and Disease: Introduction about health; Common diseases in humans (typhoid, pneumonia, common cold, malaria, amoebiasis, ascariasis, filariasis and ringworms); Immunity – innate and acquired immunity, active and passive immunity, vaccination and immunisation, allergies, auto-immunity and immune system in human; AIDS; Cancer; Drugs and alcohol abuse - adolescence, addiction, effects of drug abuse, prevention and control.
• Microbes in Human Welfare: Microbes in household products; Microbes in industrial products – beverages, antibiotics, enzymes and bioactive molecules; Microbes in sewage treatment and production of biogas, Microbes as biocontrol agents and biofertilisers.

Note for Students: This section focuses on the relationship between biology and human health, covering disease pathology, immunology, and the beneficial uses of microorganisms.

Unit-IX: Biotechnology and its Applications

• Biotechnology: Principles and Processes: Principles of biotechnology; Tools of recombinant DNA technology – restriction enzymes, cloning vectors, competent host; Processes of rDNA technology – isolation, amplification of gene (PCR), insertion of rDNA in host and bioreactors; Downstream processing.
• Biotechnology and its Applications: Application of biotechnology in agriculture – tissue culture, genetically modified organisms, Bt cotton, RNA interference; Biotechnology in medicine – insulin, gene therapy and molecular diagnosis; Transgenic animals; Ethical issues – biopiracy and patents.

Note for Students: This unit details the technical methods used in genetic engineering and explores how these technologies are applied in medicine, agriculture, and industry.

Unit-X: Ecology and Environment

• Organisms and Populations: Population attributes – birth and death rate, age pyramids; Population growth – exponential and logistic growth; Life history variation; Population interactions – predation, competition, parasitism, commensalism, mutualism and amensalism.
• Ecosystem: Structure and function; Productivity; Decomposition; Energy flow – different trophic levels, food chain and food web; Ecological pyramids – pyramid of energy, biomass and number.
• Biodiversity and Conservation: Biodiversity – concept, patterns and importance; Causes of biodiversity loss; Biodiversity conservation – approaches (narrowly utilitarian, broadly utilitarian and ethical); Methods of biodiversity conservation – in situ (endemism, hotspots and sacred groves etc.), ex situ (Wildlife safaris, zoological parks and cryopreservation etc.).

Note for Students: This unit examines the complex interactions within ecosystems and emphasizes the critical importance of conserving global biodiversity.