Syllabus for CSIR - Life Sciences

PAPER 1 – SECTION A

1. General information on science and its interface with society to test the candidate’s awareness of science, aptitude of scientific and quantitative reasonsing.

2. COMMON ELEMENTRY COMPUTER SCIENCE ( Applicable to all candidates offering subject areas ).

3. History of development of computers, Mainframe, Mini, Micro’s and Super Computer Systems.

4. General awareness of computer Hardware i..e. CPU and other peripheral devices       ( input / output and auxiliary storage devices ).

5. Basic knowledge of computer systems, software and programming languages i.e. Machine language, Assembly language and higher level language.

6. General awareness of popular commercial software packages like LOTUS, DBASE, WORDSTAR, other Scientific application packages.

PAPER  I – SECTION B

1. Cell Biology  :  Structure and function of cells and intracellular organelies   ( of both prokaryotes and eukaryotes ) : mechanism of cell division including ( mitosis and meiosis ) and cell differentiation :  Cell – cell interaction ; Malignant growth ; Immune response ; Dosage compensation and mechanism of sex determination.
 
2. Biochemistry  :  Structure of atoms, molecules and chemical bonds.  Principles of physical chemistry :  Thermodynamics, Kinetics, dissociation and association constants ; Nucleic acid structure, genetic code, replication, transcription and translation :  Structure, function and metabolism of carbohydrates, lipids and proteins ;  Enzymes and coenzyme ; Respiration and photosynthesis.

3. Physology  :  Response to stress :  Active transport across membranes ; Plant and animal hormones ; Nutrition ( including vitamins ) ; Reproduction in plants, microbes and animals.

4. Genetics  :  Principles of Mendelian inheritance, chromosome structure and function ; Gene Structure and regulation of gene expression.  Linkage and genetic mapping ; Extrachromosomal inheritance ( episomes, mitochondria and chloraplasts ) ; Mutation :  DNA damage and repair, chromosome aberration :  Transposons ; Sex-linked inheritance and genetic disorders ; Somatic cell genetics ; Genome organization ( in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes ).

5. Evolutionary Biology  :  Origin of life ( including aspects of prebiotic environment and molecular evolution ) ;  Concepts of evolution ;  Theories of organic evolution ;  Mechanisms of speciation ;  Hardyweinberg genetic equilibrium, genetic polymorphism and selection ;  Origin and evolution of economically important microbes, plants and animals.