CUET UG Biology Syllabus 2026

The CUET UG Biology syllabus for 2026 is structured around key life-science concepts based largely on the Class 11 and 12 NCERT curriculum, and is used by the National Testing Agency to assess candidates seeking undergraduate admission in science and allied fields.

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It is typically divided into five major units covering Reproduction, Genetics and Evolution, Biology and Human Welfare, Biotechnology and Its Applications, and Ecology and Environment ― each containing foundational topics such as sexual and asexual reproduction, molecular basis of inheritance, health and diseases, applications of biotechnology, and ecosystem dynamics. This syllabus emphasizes conceptual understanding and application of biological principles through multiple-choice questions, enabling students to demonstrate both theoretical knowledge and analytical skills relevant for university entrance.

Unit-VI: Reproduction

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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).

Unit-VII: Genetics and Evolution

1. 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).
2. 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).
3. 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.

Unit-VIII: Biology and Human Welfare

1. 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.
2. 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.

Unit-IX: Biotechnology and its Applications

1. 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.
2. 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.

Unit-X: Ecology and Environment

1. 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.
2. Ecosystem: Structure and function; Productivity; Decomposition; Energy flow – different trophic levels, food chain and food web; Ecological pyramids – pyramid of energy, biomass and number.
3. 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.).

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