GATE Biotechnology (BT) Subject Wise Weightage 2026: Important Topics, Best Books
GATE 2026 BT weightage for General Biology, Genetics, Cellular & Molecular Biology, and Plant, Animal, and Microbial Biotechnology topics is 23, 21, and 6 marks, respectively. GATE 2026 Biotechnology weightage will help you identify important chapters from the GATE 2026 Biotechnology syllabus.
GATE Biotechnology Subject Wise Weightage 2026: IIT Guwahati will be conducting the GATE 2026 BT exam in February 2026. The institute has released the official GATE 2026 BT syllabus on the official GATE 2026 exam website, gate2026.iitg.ac.in. If you are preparing for the upcoming GATE 2026 Biotechnology exam, you should be aware of the GATE 2026 syllabus and section wise weightage. The GATE 2026 syllabus for Biotechnology mainly include 7 sections, namely Engineering Mathematics, General Biology, Genetics, Cellular and Molecular Biology, Fundamentals of Biological Engineering, Bioprocess Engineering and Process Biotechnology, Plant, Animal, and Microbial Biotechnology, and Recombinant DNA technology and Other Tools in Biotechnology. In addition, one section of General Aptitude is also a part of the GATE BT exam 2026. There are various topics and subjects in the GATE 2026 Biotechnology syllabus PDF that you should be aware of before starting the exam preparations.
As per the GATE subject wise weightage 2026 for the Biotechnology paper, the General Aptitude section will have 15% weightage, and Engineering Mathematics and Core Biotechnology subjects carry 85% weightage. In the GATE Biotechnology exam 2026, the General Aptitude section will have 10 questions for 15 marks, and Engineering Mathematics and Core Biotechnology subjects will have 55 questions for 85 marks. IIT Guwahati will conduct the GATE 2026 exam for a total of 100 marks in CBT mode. The following article will overview of the GATE Biotechnology subject-wise weightage 2026, GATE Biotechnology 2026 important topics, and best books for preparation.
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Expected GATE Biotechnology Subject Wise Weightage 2026
As per the expected GATE 2026 Biotechnology subject wise weightage, General Biology is expected to have around 23 marks questions, Genetics, Cellular and Molecular Biology will have around 21 marks questions, Recombinant DNA Technology and Other Tools in Biotechnology will have 5 marks questions, and so on. The important topics in GATE Biotechnology are Biomolecules, Enzymes, Antibody Classification, Microbial Diseases, etc.
You can check out the expected GATE Biotechnology subject-wise weightage 2026 below:
Important Topics | Expected GATE Biotechnology Marks/ Weightage |
---|---|
General Biology | 23 |
General Aptitude | 15 |
Engineering Mathematics | 13 |
Genetics, Cellular and Molecular Biology | 21 |
Plant, Animal, and Microbial Biotechnology | 6 |
Fundamentals of Biological Engineering | 10 |
Bioprocess Engineering and Process Biotechnology | 7 |
Recombinant DNA Technology and Other Tools in Biotechnology | 5 |
Total Marks | 100 |
GATE Biotechnology Section Wise Weightage 2026 & Important Topics.
The GATE Biotechnology (BT) subject-wise weightage 2026 will help you understand the important chapters of the GATE BT syllabus 2026. As per the GATE previous year's question paper analysis, we have also mentioned the GATE Biotechnology important topics 2026. While studying for the GATE 2026 Biotechnology exam, you must go through these topics thoroughly.
Section | GATE BT 2026 Important Topics | Expected Marks Weightage |
Engineering Mathematics |
| 15% |
Biochemistry |
| 70% |
Microbiology |
| |
Cell Biology |
| |
Molecular Biology & Genetics |
| |
Analytical Techniques |
| |
Immunology |
| |
Bioinformatics |
| |
Recombinant DNA Technology (Genetic Engineering) |
| |
Plant & Animal Biotechnology |
| |
Bioprocess Engineering & Process Biotechnology |
| |
General Aptitude | - | 15% |
Also Read:
GATE 2023 Question Paper | GATE 2022 Question Paper |
GATE 2021 Question Paper PDF | GATE CSE Question Paper |
GATE ME Question Paper | GATE Civil Engineering Question Paper |
GATE Biotechnology Subject Wise Weightage 2025
In the following table, we have provided the subject wise weightage for GATE 2025 Biotechnology:
Subjects | Marks Weightage 2025 |
Engineering math | 9 |
General biology, Biochemistry, microbiology, and immunology | 13 |
Genetics, Cellular biology, Molecular Biology | 13 |
Fundamentals of Biochemical Engineering | 3 |
Bioprocess Engineering Process Biotech | 8 |
Plant, animal, and microbiotech | 1 |
RDT and other tools | 7 |
General Aptitude | 10 |
GATE Biotechnology Subject Wise Weightage 2024
Check out the GATE Biotechnology (BT) subject wise weightage 2024 below:
Subjects | Marks Weightage 2024 |
Engineering Mathematics | 9 |
General biology, Biochemistry, microbiology, and immunology | 13 |
Genetics, Cellular biology, Molecular Biology | 10 |
Fundamentals of Biochemical Engineering | 9 |
Bioprocess Engineering Process Biotech | 8 |
Plant, animal, and microbiotech | 3 |
RDT and other tools | 4 |
General Aptitude | 10 |
GATE Exam Pattern 2026 for Biotechnology
The GATE 2026 exam pattern for Biotechnology has been released. The exam pattern of GATE 2026 will help you to know about the section-wise weightage, exam duration, marking scheme, etc. Check out the GATE 2026 exam pattern for Biotechnology below.
Particular | Details |
Paper Code | BT |
GATE exam mode | Online Mode as a Computer-Based Test |
GATE Exam Duration | 3 hours (180 mins) |
GATE Question Types | Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ) Multiple Select Questions (MSQ) Numerical Answer Type (NAT) Questions |
Number of Questions | 10 (General Aptitude) + 55 ( Engineering Mathematics/Biotechnology subject) = 65 Questions |
Negative Marking |
|
GATE Biotechnology Subject Marks | 85 marks |
General Aptitude (GA) Marks | 15 marks |
Total marks | 100 Marks |
Also Read: GATE 2026 Exam Dates
What is a Good Score in GATE Biotechnology (BT)?
To pass the GATE 2026 exam, you need to score a good score and a good rank. You must be aware of what a good score in the GATE Biotechnology is to plan your exam preparations as per the expected marks in the GATE BT 2026 exam. Therefore, we have mentioned the expected GATE good scores for the Biotechnology sections below.
Section | Good Score (Expected) |
Mathematics | 25-28 |
Biochemistry | 15-20 |
Microbiology | 10-12 |
Cell Biology | 5-10 |
Molecular Biology & Genetics | 13-18 |
Analytical Techniques | 8-10 |
Immunology | 15-18 |
Bioinformatics | 11-13 |
Recombinant DNA Technology (Genetic Engineering) | 14-16 |
Plant & Animal Biotechnology | 20-25 |
Bioprocess Engineering & Process Biotechnology | 10-12 |
GATE Biotechnology Sample Questions 2026
While preparing for the GATE BT exam 2026, you can practice with these sample questions. The following GATE sample questions have been picked from the official GATE previous year papers. Check out the GATE Biotechnology sample questions 2026 below:
Q1:
A cultured skin fibroblast cell of a goat 'P' was fused with an enucleated ovum of a goat 'Q'. The resultant activated early embryo was then transplanted into a pseudopregnant (surrogate) female goat 'R' of the same strain as 'Q'. On completion of gestation, a female goat 'S' was born. With the exception of mitochondrial DNA, 'S' is a clone of
(A) Only P
(B) Only Q
(C) Only R
(D) Both P and R
.
Q2:
Which one of the following is an insect cell line?
(A) HEK 293
(B) Sf9
(C) Dh5a
(D) CHO
Q3:
Which one of the following method? is the basic principle of Sanger's DNA sequencing
(A) Chain termination
(B) Chain elongation by
(C) Release of inorganic pyrophosphate
(D) Chain cleavage by modification of dideoxynucleotides
Q4:
An element that is present in a nucleotide but not in a nucleoside is
(A) Carbon
(B) Nitrogen
(G) Oxygen
(D) Phosphorous
Q5:
Which one of the following drugs is NOT an immune checkpoint inhibitor?
(A) Ipilimumab
(B) Pembrolizumab
(C) Nivolumab
(D) Trastuzumab
Q6:
Which one of the following is required for the development of B-cells in the bone marrow?
(A) Stromal cells
(B) Dendritic cells
(C) Kupffer cells
(D) NK cells
Q7:
Which one of the following statements is TRUE about leghemoglobin?
(A) It binds oxygen to protect nitrogenase
(B) It binds hemoglobin to protect oxygenase
(C) It binds oxygen to protect hydrogenase
(D) It binds oxygen to protect oxygenase
Q8:
The maximum parsimony method is used to construct a phylogenetic tree for a set of sequences. Which one of the following statements about the method is CORRECT?
(A) It predicts the tree that minimizes the steps required to generate the observed variations
(B) It predicts the tree that maximizes the steps required to generate the observed variations
(C) It predicts the tree with the least number of branch points
(D) It employs probability calculations to identify the tree
GATE Best Books for Biotechnology 2026
You must study from the best expert-recommended GATE books 2026 only to achieve the best possible scores in the GATE 2026 result. Choose those books for the GATE exam 2026 that are as per the latest GATE Biotechnology syllabus. Since a Biotechnology paper requires a lot of conceptual understanding, you must pick books with proper explanations. We have listed some of the best books for GATE 2026 for Biotechnology papers below that you can refer to:
Name of the book | Author / Publication |
Life Science Part 1 and 2. | Pathfinder publications |
Biotechnology | Pranav Kumar |
GATE General Aptitude and Mathematics | GK Publishers |
Principle of Bioprocess Engineering | P. Doran |
Bioprocess Engineering | Schuler & Kargi |
Fundamentals of Biochemistry | Lehninger |
Immunology | Kuby |
GATE Biotechnology | GK Publishers |
Molecular Cell Biology | Lodish and Baltimore |
Molecular biology of the gene | James Watson |
Bioprocess Engineering principles | Pauline Doran |
Principles of Gene Manipulation | Primrose & Twyman |
Immunology | Kuby |
Advanced Engineering Mathematics | Erwin Kreyszig |
Plant Biotech | Slater |
Gene cloning and DNA analysis | T.A Brown |