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Biology · 25 min read
Human physiology is the most reliably examined block in biology, because every question in it has a single unambiguous answer and because the subject matter is universally familiar. Which enzyme digests protein, which part of the brain controls balance, which gland secretes insulin — these are asked in almost identical form across SSC, RRB, state and NEET papers.
The page runs system by system, and within each system it gives the pathway, the organs, the secretions and the disorders in the order a question would need them. Where two things are commonly confused — arteries with veins, the cerebrum with the cerebellum, hormones with enzymes — the distinction is set out explicitly.
Current affairs · 19 September 2026
Every item is dated, read on the conducting body’s or ministry’s own site, and written with the question it becomes. Read today’s items, take the quiz, or download the month as a PDF.
Today’s poster
Why it matters
| Exam | Expected questions | How it usually appears |
|---|---|---|
| NEET Biology | 15–20 questions | Human physiology is the single largest block in the zoology half of the paper. |
| RRB NTPC / Group D | 3–5 questions | The most heavily asked biology topic in railway papers. |
| SSC CGL / CHSL Tier 1 | 2–3 questions | Organ functions, vitamins and standard body figures. |
| State PSC Prelims | 2–3 questions | General biology, often alongside a health scheme question. |
| UPSC Prelims GS Paper 1 | 1–2 questions | Usually linked to a disease or a nutrition programme in the news. |
Pathway, enzymes and the liver
Food travels a single alimentary canal about nine metres long, and at each stage a specific secretion acts on a specific class of nutrient. Nearly every question is an enzyme-substrate pairing.
| Region | Secretion and enzyme | What it acts on |
|---|---|---|
| Mouth | Saliva containing salivary amylase, also called ptyalin | Starch, converted to maltose. Digestion of carbohydrate therefore begins in the mouth, which is why bread tastes sweet if chewed long enough. |
| Stomach | Gastric juice — hydrochloric acid, pepsin, and rennin in infants | HCl kills bacteria and activates pepsin, which digests protein. Rennin curdles milk. No carbohydrate digestion occurs here, since amylase is inactivated by the acid. |
| Small intestine — duodenum | Bile from the liver and pancreatic juice — trypsin, lipase, amylase | Bile emulsifies fat but contains no enzyme. Trypsin digests protein, lipase fat and pancreatic amylase starch. Bile also neutralises the acid arriving from the stomach. |
| Small intestine — ileum | Intestinal juice, containing several enzymes | Completes digestion of all three nutrient classes, and absorption occurs here through the villi. |
| Large intestine | No digestive enzymes | Absorbs water and some salts; gut bacteria synthesise vitamin K and some B vitamins. The undigested residue is eliminated. |
Lungs, heart and blood
Two systems treated together because they do one job between them: bringing oxygen to every cell and taking carbon dioxide away.
Breathing is the mechanical movement of air in and out of the lungs. Respiration is the chemical process by which cells break down glucose to release energy, and it happens in every cell, chiefly in the mitochondria. Aerobic respiration uses oxygen and yields carbon dioxide, water and a large amount of energy; anaerobic respiration in human muscle produces lactic acid and far less energy, which is what causes cramp during sustained exertion. The distinction is asked directly.
Kidneys and the nephron
Removing the nitrogenous waste produced by breaking down proteins, and regulating the water and salt balance of the body at the same time.
Brain, spinal cord and reflexes
The body's fast control system, working by electrical impulses along nerve cells. Its counterpart, the endocrine system, is slower and chemical.
| Part | Function | Consequence of damage |
|---|---|---|
| Cerebrum | The largest part; seat of intelligence, memory, reasoning, voluntary action and the interpretation of sensation | Loss of memory, speech or voluntary control, depending on the region affected. |
| Cerebellum | Balance, posture and the coordination of muscular activity | Loss of balance and jerky, uncoordinated movement — the effect alcohol produces temporarily. |
| Medulla oblongata | Controls involuntary vital functions — heartbeat, breathing, blood pressure, swallowing, vomiting | Damage here is usually fatal, which is why it is the most critical part of the brain. |
| Hypothalamus | Regulates body temperature, hunger, thirst and sleep; links the nervous and endocrine systems | Disturbed temperature regulation and appetite. |
| Thalamus | Relays sensory information to the cerebrum | Disturbed sensation. |
Glands, hormones and disorders
Chemical control, slower than nervous control but longer-lasting. Every question here is a three-way pairing of gland, hormone and the disorder caused by too much or too little.
| Gland | Principal hormones | Disorders |
|---|---|---|
| Pituitary | Growth hormone, and hormones controlling the other endocrine glands | Called the master gland. Deficiency of growth hormone in childhood causes dwarfism, excess causes gigantism, and excess in adulthood causes acromegaly. |
| Thyroid | Thyroxine, which requires iodine and regulates metabolic rate | Iodine deficiency causes goitre and, in children, impaired physical and mental development — which is why salt is iodised. Hypothyroidism slows metabolism; hyperthyroidism accelerates it. |
| Parathyroid | Parathormone, regulating calcium and phosphate | Deficiency causes muscle spasms from low blood calcium. |
| Adrenal | Adrenaline from the medulla; cortisol and aldosterone from the cortex | Adrenaline is the emergency hormone of the fight-or-flight response, raising heart rate, blood pressure and blood glucose. |
| Pancreas | Insulin and glucagon from the islets of Langerhans | Insulin lowers blood glucose and glucagon raises it. Insufficient insulin causes diabetes mellitus. The pancreas is both endocrine and exocrine, since it also secretes digestive enzymes. |
| Gonads | Testosterone in males; oestrogen and progesterone in females | Responsible for the secondary sexual characteristics and for reproductive function. |
Bones, joints and movement
The framework that supports the body, protects the organs, produces blood cells and, with the muscles, produces movement.
Eye, ear and the rest
Five sense organs, of which the eye and the ear supply nearly all the questions — and both overlap directly with the optics and sound topics in physics.
Solved examples
Read the steps rather than the answer. The method is what transfers to the next question.
Where does the digestion of starch begin, and why does it stop in the stomach?
Answer: In the mouth, by salivary amylase — and it stops because stomach acid inactivates the enzyme.
Why does the left ventricle have a thicker wall than the right?
Answer: Because it pumps to the whole body rather than only to the lungs.
Why is carbon monoxide so dangerous?
Answer: It binds haemoglobin far more tightly than oxygen, blocking oxygen transport.
You touch a hot object and withdraw your hand before feeling the pain. Explain.
Answer: The reflex arc is processed in the spinal cord, bypassing the brain for speed.
What is the difference between a hormone and an enzyme?
Answer: A hormone is a messenger and is used up; an enzyme is a catalyst and is not.
Which part of the ear is responsible for balance rather than hearing?
Answer: The semicircular canals of the inner ear.
Why is common salt iodised in India?
Answer: To prevent iodine deficiency, which causes goitre and impaired development in children.
Distinguish active from passive immunity.
Answer: Active is self-produced and lasting; passive is transferred, immediate and temporary.
Practice
Work each one out before you reveal the answer — the explanation is where the marks are.
Q1The enzyme present in saliva is:
Q2Bile is produced by the liver and stored in the:
Q3The functional unit of the kidney is the:
Q4Which part of the brain controls balance and coordination?
Q5Insulin is secreted by the:
Q6The master gland of the body is the:
Q7A reflex action is controlled by the:
Q8The smallest bone in the human body is the:
Q9A ligament connects:
Q10The pulmonary artery is unusual because it carries:
Q11Which cells in blood lack a nucleus in humans?
Q12Night blindness is caused by deficiency of:
Q13The natural pacemaker of the heart is the:
Q14Absorption of digested food occurs mainly in the:
Q15Which muscle is striated but involuntary?
Q16Immunity received by an infant through breast milk is:
Questions
Breathing is the mechanical exchange of air between the lungs and the atmosphere. Respiration is the biochemical release of energy from glucose inside cells, occurring chiefly in the mitochondria and producing ATP. Breathing supplies the oxygen that respiration uses and removes the carbon dioxide it produces, but they are entirely different processes and the distinction is asked directly.
Because of the villi. The small intestine is lined with millions of finger-like projections, each containing capillaries and a lacteal, which multiply the absorptive surface area enormously. Digestion is also completed there. The large intestine has no villi and no digestive enzymes; its role is to absorb water and salts from the residue.
Because the signal takes a shorter path. In a reflex, the sensory impulse reaches the spinal cord and is passed straight to a motor neuron, triggering the response — the reflex arc. A voluntary action requires the signal to travel to the brain, be processed and return. The extra distance and processing cost time, which matters when the stimulus is damaging.
Because it has two distinct kinds of tissue. The bulk of it secretes digestive enzymes — trypsin, lipase, amylase — through a duct into the duodenum, which is exocrine function. Scattered within it, the islets of Langerhans secrete insulin and glucagon directly into the blood, which is endocrine function. It is the standard example of a mixed gland.
Because it controls the involuntary functions that cannot be suspended — heartbeat, breathing, blood pressure, swallowing and vomiting. Damage to the cerebrum or cerebellum causes serious impairment but is survivable; damage to the medulla stops breathing and circulation, and is usually fatal.
Losing the nucleus on maturing frees space for more haemoglobin, increasing oxygen-carrying capacity, and gives the cell its flexible biconcave shape, which lets it squeeze through narrow capillaries and increases surface area for gas exchange. The cost is that it cannot divide or repair itself, which is why its life is limited to about 120 days.
A tendon connects muscle to bone, transmitting the pull of the muscle so that the bone moves. A ligament connects bone to bone, holding a joint together and limiting how far it can move. Both are tough connective tissue and both are commonly injured in sport, but their attachments and functions are quite different, and questions exploit the similarity of the names.
Because the two share only a name and a symptom. Diabetes mellitus involves insufficient insulin or resistance to it, producing high blood glucose. Diabetes insipidus results from a deficiency of antidiuretic hormone, so the kidneys fail to concentrate urine and the patient passes very large volumes. The word diabetes simply means passing through, and both conditions cause frequent urination.
None of the anatomy or physiology. What changes is the public health context — the vaccines in the immunisation schedule, the health schemes in operation, disease outbreak figures — and those belong to current affairs. The body figures on this page, from the number of bones to the resting heart rate, are stable.
Fifteen to twenty in NEET, where it is the largest block in the zoology half; three to five in RRB NTPC and Group D, making it the single most-asked biology topic in railway papers; two to three in SSC CGL Tier 1 and in state PSC prelims; and one to two in UPSC Prelims, usually in a health-policy context.
Attempt a timed mock while the formulas are fresh — that is what tells you which of them actually stuck.
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