Principles - genetic engineering and bioprocessing — NEET & JEE Questions

Question 1 · difficulty L1 · recall

What is the central idea of genetic engineering?

• A. Deliberate DNA manipulation
• B. Growth of organisms without changing DNA
• C. Selection of naturally occurring variants without direct DNA alteration
• D. Separation of proteins by size

Question 2 · difficulty L2 · understanding

Why are two core techniques central to modern biotechnology?

• A. Both techniques only separate DNA fragments
• B. Genetic engineering modifies DNA; bioprocessing supports production
• C. Bioprocessing replaces the need for genes
• D. Genetic engineering begins only after large-scale product purification is complete

Question 3 · difficulty L2 · understanding

Genetic engineering fundamentally involves

• A. deliberate manipulation of DNA to introduce or alter genetic information
• B. only selective breeding without DNA manipulation
• C. changing protein shape without affecting genes
• D. growing microbes without controlling conditions

Question 4 · difficulty L2 · understanding

Bioprocess engineering is mainly concerned with

• A. maintaining suitable large-scale conditions for biological production
• B. sequencing DNA only
• C. classifying organisms taxonomically
• D. measuring Mendelian ratios only

Question 5 · difficulty L3 · application

A bacterium is engineered to produce a human protein, but the culture conditions do not support bacterial growth. Which principle of biotechnology has failed?

• A. Mendelian segregation
• B. Formation of a genetic code
• C. Bioprocess optimisation
• D. Chromosome pairing

Question 6 · difficulty L3 · application

A researcher inserts a human gene into a bacterial plasmid and introduces the recombinant plasmid into bacteria. Which biotechnology principle is being used most directly?

• A. Recombinant DNA technology
• B. Natural selection only
• C. Ecological succession
• D. Hybrid seed production only

Question 7 · difficulty L3 · application

Why is aseptic technique essential during industrial production of a recombinant protein?

• A. Contaminating organisms could compete with the production host or spoil the product
• B. It makes DNA replication unnecessary
• C. It guarantees every cell has the same mutation
• D. It eliminates the need to control temperature

Question 8 · difficulty L3 · application

A useful production strain performs well in a flask but poorly in a large fermenter because oxygen becomes limiting. Which principle is most relevant?

• A. Bioprocess scale-up must preserve suitable mass transfer and culture conditions
• B. The gene must be removed
• C. Large cultures require no aeration
• D. DNA sequence alone determines yield regardless of environment

Question 9 · difficulty L4 · analysis

Why is aseptic handling important during industrial biotechnology?

• A. It eliminates every need for later product recovery and purification
• B. It forces recombinant DNA to replicate faster
• C. It changes the genetic code of the host
• D. It prevents contamination of the production culture

Question 10 · difficulty L4 · application

Which workflow best represents a recombinant biotechnology process?

• A. Identify desired gene → construct recombinant DNA → introduce into host → select/express → recover product
• B. Grow any cells → ignore DNA → recover random proteins
• C. Sequence a genome → skip host introduction → obtain industrial product automatically
• D. Select phenotype → avoid all vectors → no culture step