Free Biotechnology MCQs with Answers

• A. the practical use of living organisms or their products for human benefit
• B. the study of fossils
• C. the chemistry of synthetic drugs
• D. the physics of living cells

Explanation: From baking and brewing to genetic engineering, biotechnology harnesses cells and enzymes to make products and services.

• A. Gene splicing in the laboratory
• B. Baking bread with yeast
• C. DNA fingerprinting
• D. Somatic cell cloning

Explanation: Humans have used microorganisms for bread, cheese and vinegar for thousands of years, long before DNA was understood.

• A. photosynthesis
• B. aerobic respiration
• C. fermentation
• D. nitrogen fixation

Explanation: The bacteria ferment lactose anaerobically, and the acid they produce thickens the milk proteins.

• A. part of the main bacterial chromosome
• B. a viral protein coat
• C. a type of ribosome
• D. a small circular DNA molecule that replicates independently in bacteria

Explanation: Plasmids carry extra genes such as antibiotic resistance and replicate separately from the chromosome.

• A. telomeres
• B. sticky ends
• C. Okazaki fragments
• D. primers

Explanation: Staggered cuts leave short overhangs that anneal with complementary overhangs from DNA cut by the same enzyme, easing the joining of gene…

• A. move faster and travel farther through the gel
• B. remain near the wells
• C. dissolve in the buffer
• D. become positively charged

Explanation: The gel acts as a molecular sieve, so small fragments slip through its pores more easily than large ones.

• A. measuring blood glucose
• B. treating cancer
• C. establishing paternity and identifying criminals
• D. increasing crop yield

Explanation: Because the pattern of non coding repeats is unique to each individual, a sample of blood or tissue can link a person to a crime or a…

• A. Taking X ray images
• B. Transfusing blood
• C. Dialysing a patient's blood
• D. Detecting a virus from a tiny sample of its DNA

Explanation: PCR amplifies trace DNA millions of times, making it detectable in diagnosis, forensics and research.

• A. an adult mammary gland cell
• B. a red blood cell
• C. a sperm cell
• D. an unfertilised egg's own nucleus

Explanation: Dolly proved that the nucleus of an adult, specialised cell still contains a complete genome able to direct development.

• A. an antibiotic
• B. beta carotene, which the body converts to vitamin A
• C. human insulin
• D. nitrogen fertiliser

Explanation: Genes from other organisms enable the rice grain to make beta carotene, aiming to reduce vitamin A deficiency in populations that live…

• A. Bt cotton
• B. Golden Rice
• C. Dolly the sheep
• D. human insulin produced by bacteria

Explanation: Approved in the early 1980s, bacterial human insulin transformed diabetes care and opened the era of biopharmaceuticals.

• A. broken bones
• B. malaria
• C. severe combined immune deficiency, SCID
• D. appendicitis

Explanation: By inserting a working copy of the defective gene into the patient's cells, gene therapy targets single gene disorders such as SCID.

• A. can divide only once
• B. can differentiate into any cell type of the body
• C. produce blood cells only
• D. never divide

Explanation: Pluripotency means the ability to become nerve, muscle, blood or any other tissue, which is why these cells hold regenerative promise.

• A. treating some cancers and detecting pregnancy
• B. sterilising surgical instruments
• C. filtering blood in dialysis
• D. grinding food in digestion

Explanation: Because each monoclonal antibody recognises one target, it can mark cancer cells for destruction or detect the hormone hCG in pregnancy…

• A. a clone
• B. a hybrid
• C. a transgenic animal
• D. a mutant

Explanation: The animal carries a gene from another species and expresses it in milk, from which the medicine is purified.

• A. They never cross breed with wild plants
• B. They eliminate all insects from the farm
• C. They require no sunlight
• D. They can resist pests or herbicides, reducing the need for sprays

Explanation: Bt crops make their own insecticidal protein and herbicide tolerant crops simplify weed control, both cutting chemical inputs.

• A. organisms genetically identical to the original
• B. hybrids between two species
• C. organisms with random mutations
• D. gametes in the laboratory

Explanation: A clone shares the exact nuclear genome of its source, whether produced by cuttings, bacteria dividing or nuclear transfer.

• A. 3 million
• B. 3 billion
• C. 300 thousand
• D. 3 trillion

Explanation: Completed in 2003, the project read about three billion base pairs spanning the human genome's roughly 20,000 to 25,000 genes.

• A. contain live pathogens
• B. are never tested before use
• C. contain only specific proteins of the pathogen, not the whole organism
• D. provide immunity without any immune response

Explanation: Recombinant vaccines such as hepatitis B present one safe protein to the immune system, removing any risk of the disease itself.

• A. cut the DNA at specific points
• B. digest the bacterial cell wall
• C. colour the bacterial colonies
• D. identify the bacteria that have successfully taken up the plasmid

Explanation: Only bacteria carrying the plasmid survive on antibiotic containing medium, so the marker selects the transformed cells.