NEET UG · Biology · Microbes in Human Welfare

Microbes in Human Welfare: NEET previous year questions

16 questions in ten years of NEET, in 9 of 10 papers. Pattern: Every year. Here is how it is asked and which ideas come back.

Asked in 10 years: 16; about 1.6 per paper
Years asked: 9/10; last asked 2026
Chance of a question next paper: 84%; historical rate, how we compute it
Weighted estimate: 1.4; model; history: 1.6 a paper on average, typically 1–3

Key findings

01
Asked in 9 of 10 papers, 16 questions in all: #30 of 204 topics by ten-year total. It comes back every 1.1 years on average.
02
43% of its questions since 2018 tested an idea never asked before; 3 repeated an idea from the year before.
03
The most repeated idea is Microbe-Product Matching, asked 5 times (2017, 2019, 2020, 2024, 2025), usually as “match list on microbes and products”.
04
NEET has asked 0 of the 11 ideas in this topic; 0 have never been asked, directly or indirectly.
05
Mostly asked as one-line MCQ (69%); 50% easy, 0% hard.

Questions per year

Up to 2023: 1.6; per paper
Since 2024: 1.6; 0.1
Usual gap: 1.1 yrs; between papers asking it
Swing: ±1.1; questions, year to year

Revise first

Bioactive Molecules (2019 2022 2025 2026); Microbe-Product Matching (2017 2019 2020 2024 2025); Fermented Beverages (2025)

How it is asked

Difficulty, format and skill

Across all 16 questions on Microbes in Human Welfare since 2017.

Difficulty

QUESTIONS

Easy8 · 50%
Medium8 · 50%
Hard0 · 0%

Format

One-line MCQ · 11 Q69%
Match the lists · 4 Q25%
Other · 1 Q6%

Skill tested

Recall · 16 Q100%

Repeats

New idea, or one asked before?

Each column is a paper. Blue questions tested an idea NEET had not asked before; navy ones went back to an idea from an earlier paper. 2017 is the first paper, so everything in it counts as new.

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25’26

Idea asked for the first time
Idea asked in an earlier paper

Coverage of the topic

NEET has asked 0 of the 11 ideas in this topic. 0 have never been asked yet.

Asked directly0 · 0%
Touched inside another question11 · 100%
Never asked0 · 0%

Ideas come from Lumi’s syllabus map of NCERT. A never-asked idea is not a safe skip: most new questions come from exactly these.

Drill down

Idea, year, question

Every idea NEET tested in this topic, with its ten papers. Open one to read the questions.

ideaAskedShareYears’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25’26

Repeated5 · 31%31%5/10
- 2025 · Q177
  Which of the following microbes is NOT involved in the preparation of household products? A. Aspergillus niger B. Lactobacillus C.…
  mediumOtherAsked the year before
- 2024 · Q128
  Match List I with List II List I | List II A. $Clostridium$ $butylicum$ | I. Ethanol B. $Saccharomyces$ $cerevisiae$ | II. Streptokinase…
  mediumMatch the lists
- 2020 · Q48
  Match the following columns and select the correct option. Column - I | Column - II (a) Clostridium butylicum | (i) Cyclosporin-A (b)…
  mediumMatch the listsAsked the year before
- 2019 · Q125
  Match the following organisms with the products they produce : (a) Lactobacillus | (i) Cheese (b) Saccharomyces cerevisiae | (ii) Curd (c)…
  easyMatch the lists
- 2017 · Q136
  Which of the following is correctly matched for the product produced by them ?
  mediumOne-line MCQNew idea
Repeated4 · 25%25%4/10
2 · 13%13%1/102
Repeated2 · 13%13%2/10
1 · 6%6%1/10
1 · 6%6%1/10
1 · 6%6%1/10

Squares are the ten papers, 2017 to 2026; darker means more questions. Share is of the level above.

Ideas

Every idea inside this topic

7 different ideas were tested; 4 came more than once.

Microbe-Product Matching5×
match list on microbes and products
Match the lists · 11% next
Bioactive Molecules4×
identify microbial source of a drug
One-line MCQ · 11% next
Sewage Treatment and Biogas2×
sequence step in sewage treatment
One-line MCQ · 4% next
Biocontrol Agents2×
identify group of biocontrol agents
One-line MCQ · 4% next
Fermented Beverages1×
identify example of a product
One-line MCQ · 6% next
Microbial Organic Acids1×
match list on microbes and products
Match the lists · 4% next
Lactic Acid Bacteria in Curd1×
identify benefit of a microbial process
One-line MCQ · 4% next

Idea	Times	Format	Chance next	Foundation for
Microbe-Product Matchingmatch list on microbes and products	5	Match the listsRecall	11%	–
Bioactive Moleculesidentify microbial source of a drug	4	One-line MCQRecall	11%	–
Sewage Treatment and Biogassequence step in sewage treatment	2	One-line MCQRecall	4%	–
Biocontrol Agentsidentify group of biocontrol agents	2	One-line MCQRecall	4%	–
Fermented Beveragesidentify example of a product	1	One-line MCQRecall	6%	–
Microbial Organic Acidsmatch list on microbes and products	1	Match the listsRecall	4%	–
Lactic Acid Bacteria in Curdidentify benefit of a microbial process	1	One-line MCQRecall	4%	–

Chance next is the historical rate at which an idea with this record came back in the following paper. It is low for every idea, which is why learning the topic beats memorising past questions. All repeated ideas

Every question

Microbes in Human Welfare questions, year by year

The opening words of each question as it appeared in the official paper, with the idea it tested.

NEET 20261 question

Q136
Which of the following is used as a clot buster?
Idea: Bioactive Molecules
Asked last yearEasyOne-line MCQ

NEET 20253 questions

Q103
Which of the following is an example of non-distilled alcoholic beverage produced by yeast?
Idea: Fermented Beverages
New ideaEasyOne-line MCQ
Q105
Streptokinase produced by bacterium *Streptococcus* is used for
Idea: Bioactive Molecules
EasyOne-line MCQ
Q177
Which of the following microbes is NOT involved in the preparation of household products? A. Aspergillus niger B. Lactobacillus C.…
Idea: Microbe-Product Matching
Asked last yearMediumOther

NEET 20241 question

Q128
Match List I with List II List I | List II A. $Clostridium$ $butylicum$ | I. Ethanol B. $Saccharomyces$ $cerevisiae$ | II. Streptokinase…
Idea: Microbe-Product Matching
MediumMatch the lists

NEET 20221 question

Q153
Identify the microorganism which is responsible for the production of an immunosuppressive molecule cyclosporin A :
Idea: Bioactive Molecules
MediumOne-line MCQ

NEET 20211 question

Q183
Match List - I with List - II. List - I | List - II (a) Aspergillus niger | (i) Acetic Acid (b) Acetobacter aceti | (ii) Lactic Acid (c)…
Idea: Microbial Organic Acids
New ideaEasyMatch the lists

NEET 20202 questions

Q23
Which of the following is put into Anaerobic sludge digester for further sewage treatment ?
Idea: Sewage Treatment and Biogas
MediumOne-line MCQ
Q48
Match the following columns and select the correct option. Column - I | Column - II (a) Clostridium butylicum | (i) Cyclosporin-A (b)…
Idea: Microbe-Product Matching
Asked last yearMediumMatch the lists

NEET 20194 questions

Q96
Which of the following is a commercial blood cholesterol lowering agent ?
Idea: Bioactive Molecules
New ideaMediumOne-line MCQ
Q123
Select the correct group of biocontrol agents.
Idea: Biocontrol Agents
New ideaMediumOne-line MCQ
Q125
Match the following organisms with the products they produce : (a) Lactobacillus | (i) Cheese (b) Saccharomyces cerevisiae | (ii) Curd (c)…
Idea: Microbe-Product Matching
EasyMatch the lists
Q169
Which of the following can be used as a biocontrol agent in the treatment of plant disease ?
Idea: Biocontrol Agents
New ideaEasyOne-line MCQ

NEET 20181 question

Q178
Conversion of milk to curd improves its nutritional value by increasing the amount of
Idea: Lactic Acid Bacteria in Curd
New ideaEasyOne-line MCQ

NEET 20172 questions

Q136
Which of the following is correctly matched for the product produced by them ?
Idea: Microbe-Product Matching
MediumOne-line MCQ
Q176
Which of the following in sewage treatment removes suspended solids ?
Idea: Sewage Treatment and Biogas
EasyOne-line MCQ

Questions from the official NEET UG papers published by NTA (CBSE before 2019). Topic and idea tags, counts and notes are Lumi’s.