"Biotechnology, IT & Health" — Practice

Question 1

In CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing, the Cas9 protein is guided to a specific DNA location by:
(a) a designed guide RNA sequence (b) a designed guide DNA sequence (c) a protein antibody (d) an entirely random process with no guidance

Accepted Answer

(a) a designed guide RNA sequence.

Cas9 acts as 'molecular scissors,' cutting the target DNA precisely at the location specified by the guide RNA — the guide molecule is RNA even though the target being cut is DNA.

Question 2

The 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for developing CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing was awarded to:
(a) Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier (b) Watson and Crick (c) Jennifer Doudna alone (d) a team at ISRO

Accepted Answer

(a) Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier.

This landmark biotechnology tool has applications spanning disease treatment, agriculture and research.

Question 3

Which GM crop is currently the only one commercially approved for cultivation in India?
(a) Bt cotton (b) GM mustard (c) Bt brinjal (d) GM rice

Accepted Answer

(a) Bt cotton.

Other GM crop approvals, such as GM mustard, have faced ongoing regulatory and legal contestation and are not uniformly commercially cultivated.

Question 4

Bt cotton is engineered using a gene from which organism?
(a) the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (b) a virus (c) a fungus (d) another cotton plant variety only

Accepted Answer

(a) the soil bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis.

This gene produces a protein toxic to specific insect pests, providing built-in pest resistance to the cotton plant.

Question 5

mRNA vaccines, such as the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, work by:
(a) delivering genetic instructions that make the body's own cells temporarily produce a target antigen (b) introducing a live, weakened form of the virus (c) introducing a dead, inactivated form of the virus (d) using a harmless carrier virus to deliver antigen-coding genes

Accepted Answer

(a) delivering genetic instructions that make the body's own cells temporarily produce a target antigen.

This introduces no live, weakened, or whole pathogen material at all, a fundamentally different mechanism from live-attenuated or viral vector vaccines.

Question 6

Live attenuated vaccines, such as MMR and BCG, use:
(a) a weakened but still living form of the pathogen (b) a completely dead, inactivated pathogen (c) only a protein fragment of the pathogen (d) genetic instructions with no pathogen material at all

Accepted Answer

(a) a weakened but still living form of the pathogen.

This triggers a strong, long-lasting immune response but is generally avoided for severely immunocompromised individuals, unlike inactivated vaccines.

Question 7

Viral vector vaccines, such as Covishield, work by using:
(a) a harmless, different virus modified to carry genetic material coding for the target pathogen's antigen (b) the actual disease-causing virus in weakened form (c) only a purified protein subunit (d) mRNA instructions alone

Accepted Answer

(a) a harmless, different virus modified to carry genetic material coding for the target pathogen's antigen.

This prompts an immune response without using the actual target pathogen itself.

Question 8

Malaria is transmitted by which mosquito genus?
(a) female Anopheles (b) Aedes (c) Culex (d) male Anopheles

Accepted Answer

(a) female Anopheles.

Dengue and Chikungunya, by contrast, are transmitted by the Aedes mosquito — a frequently tested vector-disease pairing distinction.

Question 9

Ayushman Bharat's PM-JAY component specifically provides:
(a) health insurance coverage for secondary/tertiary hospitalisation to economically vulnerable families (b) primary healthcare at Health and Wellness Centres (c) universal free medicines for all citizens (d) funding for medical college construction only

Accepted Answer

(a) health insurance coverage for secondary/tertiary hospitalisation to economically vulnerable families.

The separate Health and Wellness Centres (HWC) component provides comprehensive primary healthcare — two distinct components of one flagship scheme.

Question 10

Tuberculosis (TB), caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, is addressed in India through which programme?
(a) the National TB Elimination Programme (b) the National Health Mission exclusively (c) Ayushman Bharat's PM-JAY component only (d) the Digital India programme

Accepted Answer

(a) the National TB Elimination Programme.

India carries a very significant share of the global TB burden, making this a high-priority national health programme.

Question 11

Aadhaar, a 12-digit unique identity number, is issued by:
(a) the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) (b) the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) (c) the Reserve Bank of India (d) the Ministry of Health

Accepted Answer

(a) the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).

Aadhaar serves as the foundational identity layer for numerous government services and Direct Benefit Transfer schemes.

Question 12

UPI (Unified Payments Interface), enabling instant bank-to-bank transfers via mobile devices, was developed by:
(a) the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) (b) the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) (c) ISRO (d) DRDO

Accepted Answer

(a) the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).

UPI forms the payments layer of India Stack, distinct from Aadhaar (identity layer) and DigiLocker (data layer).

Question 13

India Stack refers to India's layered digital public infrastructure, encompassing:
(a) Aadhaar (identity), UPI (payments), and DigiLocker (data) (b) only the Aadhaar system (c) only banking sector regulations (d) only ISRO's satellite systems

Accepted Answer

(a) Aadhaar (identity), UPI (payments), and DigiLocker (data).

These are three distinct layers, not a single unified system, each serving a different specific function.

Question 14

Kala-azar (Visceral Leishmaniasis) is transmitted by:
(a) sandfly (b) Anopheles mosquito (c) Aedes mosquito (d) tsetse fly

Accepted Answer

(a) sandfly.

This is distinct from the mosquito-borne diseases malaria (Anopheles) and dengue/chikungunya (Aedes).

Question 15

Herd immunity refers to:
(a) a sufficiently high proportion of immune individuals slowing disease spread, indirectly protecting non-immune people (b) a vaccine that works only on livestock (c) immunity that only lasts for herd animals, not humans (d) a type of vaccine mechanism distinct from the five main types

Accepted Answer

(a) a sufficiently high proportion of immune individuals slowing disease spread, indirectly protecting non-immune people.

This is achieved through vaccination or prior infection reaching a sufficiently high population coverage threshold.

Practice — "Biotechnology, IT & Health"

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