Reference tables
The 44 named-fact pairs NDA Biology actually tests
Single page, every paired fact grouped by domain. Diseases ↔ pathogens. Vitamins ↔ deficiencies. Hormones ↔ glands. Scientists ↔ discoveries. Each row links to the playbook where that fact most appears. Bookmark and active-recall the morning of the exam.
- named facts indexed
- 44
- themed clusters
- 4
- page to revise from
- 1
- years of PYQs behind it
- 10
How to use this page
- First read: cover-to-cover. Mark facts you DON’T already know cold — the ones you couldn’t derive from the entity name or the context alone. Most candidates know ~30 of the 44.
- Active recall: cover the right two columns (paired fact + context), read the entity NAME, write the paired fact + one context note from memory. Repeat for any you miss.
- Drill the playbook: click the ‘Playbook’ link on any row to jump to the chapter’s deep-dive + drill the bank questions where that fact appears.
- Trap-aware: the amber ‘Note’ on a row flags the most-common distractor for that pair (malaria-Mycobacterium swap, HIV is RNA virus, B12 deficiency in vegans).
Diseases ↔ Pathogens
The marquee recall lever in NDA Biology — disease↔causative-organism pairs appear in every paper. Bacterial, viral, parasitic, fungal. Drill against the /playbooks/microbiology-and-disease deep-dive.
| Disease | Pathogen / cause | Type + key fact | |
|---|---|---|---|
Tuberculosis (TB) | Mycobacterium tuberculosis | Bacterial · airborne · affects lungs | Playbook |
Cholera | Vibrio cholerae | Bacterial · waterborne · severe diarrhoea | Playbook |
Typhoid | Salmonella typhi | Bacterial · waterborne · sustained fever | Playbook |
Tetanus | Clostridium tetani | Bacterial · soil · muscle spasms | Playbook |
Leprosy | Mycobacterium leprae | Bacterial · skin + nerves | Playbook |
Smallpox Note:Variola is a VIRUS, not bacterium — common identity trap. | Variola virus | Viral · eradicated globally 1980 (WHO) | Playbook |
AIDS Note:Genetic material is RNA (retrovirus), not DNA. | HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) | Viral · RETROVIRUS · genetic material = RNA | Playbook |
Polio | Poliovirus | Viral · faeco-oral · paralysis | Playbook |
Dengue Note:Dengue reduces platelets (not RBC, not WBC). | Dengue virus (DENV) | Viral · Aedes mosquito · reduces PLATELETS | Playbook |
Measles | Measles virus (Morbillivirus) | Viral · airborne · rash + fever | Playbook |
Malaria Note:Malaria = PLASMODIUM (parasite), not Mycobacterium (TB). NDA tests this swap. | Plasmodium (P. vivax, P. falciparum) | Parasitic · vector = female Anopheles mosquito | Playbook |
Sleeping sickness | Trypanosoma | Parasitic · vector = tsetse fly · CNS damage | Playbook |
Elephantiasis (filariasis) | Wuchereria bancrofti | Parasitic worm · vector = Culex mosquito · lymph blockage | Playbook |
Kala-azar (visceral leishmaniasis) | Leishmania donovani | Parasitic · vector = sandfly · enlarged spleen + liver | Playbook |
Ringworm | Trichophyton / Microsporum (dermatophytes) | Fungal · skin infection | Playbook |
Vitamins ↔ Deficiencies
Year-after-year recall in the Nutrition subtopic. Memorise vitamin name + alt name + deficiency disease + source. Drill against the /playbooks/human-physiology deep-dive.
| Vitamin | Deficiency disease | Source + alt name | |
|---|---|---|---|
Vitamin A (Retinol) | Night blindness · xerophthalmia | Carrots, liver, milk, eggs · fat-soluble | Playbook |
Vitamin B1 (Thiamine) | Beriberi | Whole grains, pulses, nuts · water-soluble | Playbook |
Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) | Cheilosis (cracks at mouth corners) | Milk, eggs, leafy greens | Playbook |
Vitamin B3 (Niacin) | Pellagra (dermatitis, diarrhoea, dementia) | Meat, fish, peanuts, whole grains | Playbook |
Vitamin B12 (Cyanocobalamin) Note:B12 deficiency common in strict vegans (only animal sources). | Pernicious anaemia | Meat, fish, dairy · intestinal bacteria synthesise small amounts | Playbook |
Vitamin C (Ascorbic acid) | Scurvy (bleeding gums, slow healing) | Citrus fruits, amla, guava, peppers · water-soluble | Playbook |
Vitamin D (Calciferol) | Rickets (children) · Osteomalacia (adults) | Sunlight (UV → skin synthesis), fish, egg yolk · fat-soluble | Playbook |
Vitamin E (Tocopherol) | Reproductive issues, neuropathy | Vegetable oils, nuts, seeds · fat-soluble · antioxidant | Playbook |
Vitamin K (Phylloquinone) Note:Intestinal bacteria synthesise vitamin K — recurring NDA fact about gut microbiome. | Bleeding (no blood clotting) | Leafy greens, intestinal bacteria · fat-soluble | Playbook |
Hormones ↔ Glands
Endocrine system recall. Each hormone has one source gland + one main function. Drill against the /playbooks/human-physiology deep-dive.
| Hormone | Source gland | Function | |
|---|---|---|---|
Insulin Note:β-cells produce insulin, α-cells produce GLUCAGON (opposite effect — raises glucose). | Pancreas (β-cells of Islets of Langerhans) | Lowers blood glucose (drives uptake into cells) | Playbook |
Glucagon | Pancreas (α-cells) | Raises blood glucose (glycogen → glucose in liver) | Playbook |
Thyroxine (T4) Note:Goitre = enlarged thyroid (iodine deficiency); hypothyroidism in children = cretinism. | Thyroid gland | Regulates basal metabolic rate · needs iodine | Playbook |
Adrenaline (Epinephrine) | Adrenal medulla | Fight-or-flight · ↑ heart rate, ↑ blood glucose, dilates pupils | Playbook |
Cortisol | Adrenal cortex | Stress hormone · ↑ glucose, suppresses immune system | Playbook |
Growth Hormone (GH / Somatotropin) Note:Pituitary is the 'master gland' — controls thyroid + adrenal + gonads. | Anterior pituitary | Skeletal + tissue growth · deficiency = dwarfism, excess = gigantism / acromegaly | Playbook |
Oxytocin | Posterior pituitary (made in hypothalamus) | Childbirth contractions + milk ejection | Playbook |
Estrogen | Ovaries | Female secondary sexual characteristics + menstrual cycle | Playbook |
Testosterone | Testes | Male secondary sexual characteristics + sperm production | Playbook |
Parathyroid Hormone (PTH) | Parathyroid glands (4, behind thyroid) | Raises blood calcium | Playbook |
Scientists ↔ Discoveries
Repeat-tested authorship facts. Discovery / theory / book title ↔ scientist name. Drill against /playbooks/microbiology-and-disease (Fleming) and /playbooks/genetics-and-evolution (Darwin, Watson + Crick).
| Discovery / contribution | Scientist | Year + context | |
|---|---|---|---|
Penicillin (first antibiotic) | Alexander Fleming | 1928 · from Penicillium mould · Nobel 1945 | Playbook |
On the Origin of Species (natural selection) Note:Don't swap with Lamarck (1809, inheritance of acquired characteristics, rejected). | Charles Darwin | 1859 · evolution by natural selection | Playbook |
Laws of inheritance (Segregation + Independent Assortment) | Gregor Mendel | 1865 · pea-plant experiments · founded modern genetics | Playbook |
DNA double helix structure | James Watson + Francis Crick | 1953 · used Rosalind Franklin's X-ray data · Nobel 1962 | Playbook |
Cell theory (all life is cellular) | Matthias Schleiden + Theodor Schwann | 1838–39 · Schleiden plants, Schwann animals; Virchow 1855 added 'cells from cells' | Playbook |
Blood circulation (heart pumps blood in a circuit) | William Harvey | 1628 · disproved Galen's static-blood model | Playbook |
Smallpox vaccine (first vaccine) | Edward Jenner | 1796 · cowpox inoculation against smallpox | Playbook |
Rabies vaccine + germ theory of disease | Louis Pasteur | 1885 rabies vaccine · pasteurisation · disproved spontaneous generation | Playbook |
First observed + named cells | Robert Hooke | 1665 · cork sections under microscope · 'Micrographia' | Playbook |
First observed living cells (bacteria, protozoa) | Anton van Leeuwenhoek | 1670s · invented high-magnification microscope · 'animalcules' | Playbook |
Why plain-text tables (no diagrams)
NDA Biology recall is almost entirely text-pair memorisation — disease name ↔ pathogen name; vitamin name ↔ deficiency disease; hormone name ↔ source gland. No diagrams needed for the recall surface. The structural biology (cell organelles, plant tissue anatomy, human organ systems) is best learned from your textbook diagrams; the named-fact pairings live in tables.