Prelims 2016 · Q31
MediumIn the context of the developments in Bioinformatics, the term 'transcriptome', sometimes seen in the news, refers to
Answer & explanation
Answer: (b) the full range of mRNA molecules expressed by an organism
Just as the genome is the full set of an organism's DNA, the transcriptome is the full set of RNA transcripts copied from that DNA, the 'gene readouts' in a cell. Of the options, 'the full range of mRNA molecules expressed' is the one that names this collection; the others describe tools, processes or mutations rather than a set of molecules.
- ✓ (b) Transcription copies genes into RNA; these gene readouts are called transcripts, and the transcriptome is the collection of all of them in a cell, with messenger RNA (mRNA) as the major type.
- ✗ (c) The transcriptome is a set of molecules, not an account of how gene expression works; reading it shows which genes are being expressed, but it is not the mechanism itself.
- ✗ (a) Genome-editing tools such as CRISPR-Cas9 nucleases are enzymes; they have nothing to do with the term transcriptome.
Remember · -ome words: genome = all DNA; transcriptome = all RNA transcripts (mainly mRNA) expressed in a cell; proteome = all proteins. The transcriptome changes with tissue, stage and condition.
📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 12 Biology, Ch 5 (practise this chapter)
Sources
- NCERT Class 12 · Biology, Chapter 5 “The process of copying genetic information from one strand of the DNA into RNA is termed as transcription.”
- US National Human Genome Research Institute (NIH): Transcriptome Fact Sheet ↗ “These gene readouts are called transcripts, and a transcriptome is a collection of all the gene readouts present in a cell. … The major type, called messenger RNA (mRNA), plays a vital role in making proteins.”
Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2016, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·