BIOPHYSICS

1 Life and its physical basis: What is life? Definition of living organisms. Life and energy. Why organisms need energy?
2. Forces and energy to the nanoscale: Intermolecular interactions and electrostatic screening. Chemical adhesion and stability of the molecules.
3. The chemical composition of living systems. The electronic structure of atoms most important from the biological point of view. The oddities of water. Carbon and its peculiarities. The four classes of biological bricks and their characteristic functional groups. The structure and the physical properties of DNA, RNA, proteins and cell membranes.
5. Structure and function of proteins. Polymers by the molecular machines. Weak interactions. The structural organization of proteins: primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary organization. Globular proteins and fibrous. The stability of the proteins. Motion by means of the proteins. The enzymes.
6. Physical and biology techniques. Various types of microscopic analysis. Traditional techniques of microscopy. SEM and TEM. Fluorescence microscopy. Confocal microscopy and multiphoton.
7. The cell. The cell as the basic unit of biological organization. The components: membranes, cytoskeleton, organelles. The central role of macromolecules: proteins, nucleic acids, carbohydrates. The surface tension and the mechanical properties of the cell membranes. Brownian motion viscosity and their influence on the motion of particles in the cell. Basic structure of prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. The mitochondria and the generation of ATP. The flow of energy and information in the cell.
8. The cell membrane. The lipid bilayer. The control of the transmembrane flow: membrane proteins, passive transport than the active one, the merger and exocytotic release. Bioenergetics: bacteriorhodopsin, photosynthesis, the role of 'ATP and structure of' ATPsynthase. Chemiosmotic.
9. The cytoskeleton. The role of the cytoskeleton in cell movement. The role of the engines within the cell.
10. Muscles. Structural organization of muscles. Mechanisms of muscles contraction .

Rodney Cotterill : Biophysics An Introduction Wiley 2002

Roland Glaser : Biophysics Springer-Verlag Gmbh 2004

Mae-Wan Ho : The Rainbow and the Worm The Physics of Organisms World Scientific Pub Co 2008

G.H. Pollack : Cells, Gels and the Engines of Life Ebner and Sons Publishers 2001

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