General Biophysics

General Biophysics, Volume I deals with the theoretical physics underlying biological phenomena and presents some pertinent experimental results. It explores the molecular foundations of biophysics, the thermodynamics of nonequilibrium systems and membrane transport, nerve impulses, and mechanochemical processes. Comprised of five chapters, this volume begins with an overview of molecular biophysics and the concept of molecular recognition, followed by a discussion of the interaction between antibodies and antigens, the primary processes that determine odor reception, and the importance of intercellular interactions in the existence and development of multicellular organisms. The next chapters explain how protein biosynthesis is regulated by molecules and how proteins are biosynthesized in eukaryotic cells, along with the application of thermodynamics to the analysis of biophysical problems and the coupling of chemical reactions near equilibrium. The reader is also introduced to the stability conditions of a steady state, the concept of entropy for an open system, the thermodynamics of the sodium pump, ionic equilibrium between sodium and potassium solutions separated by an active membrane, the conformational properties of membranes, and the general phenomenological theory of facilitated transport and the role of the carriers. The book concludes with a chapter on biological mechanochemical processes and their thermodynamics. This book is a valuable resource for physicists and biophysicists, graduate and postgraduate students having the necessary knowledge of physics, and anyone acquainted with proteins and nucleic acids.

General Biophysics, Volume II studies biological phenomena at the supramolecular and cellular levels of structure. The book considers biological phenomena on the basis of general physical principles. The text presents topics on bioenergetic processes; structure and properties of mitochondria; photo-biological processes; nonlinear dynamic processes; and physical interpretation of the most general problems of biology. Graduate and postgraduate students in the field of physical and life sciences will find this book very useful.

What is biophysics? As with all subjects which straddle traditional boundaries between fields, it eludes a precise definition. Furthermore, it is impossible to do biophysics without having a certain foundation of knowledge in biology, physics, physical chemistry, chemistry and biochemistry. One approach to a biophysics textbook would be to refer the student to the literature of these neighboring fields, and to leave the selection of the appropriate supplementary material up to the student. The editors of this volume are of the opinion that it is more useful and less time-consuming to present a selection of the supplementary knowledge, in concentrated form, together with the subject matter specific to biophysics. The reader will thus find in this book introductions to such subjects as the structure and function of the cell, the chemical structure of biogenic macromolecules, and even theoretical chemistry. What, indeed, is biophysics? Must we consider it to include physiology, electromedicine, radiation medicine, etc. ? The field has evolved continuously in recent years. Molecular understanding oflife processes has come more and more to the fore. Just as the field of molecular physics has developed to describe structures and processes in the realm of non-living systems, there has been a corresponding development of molecular biophysics.

Biophysics is a rapidly-evolving interdisciplinary science that applies theories and methods of the physical sciences to questions of biology. Biophysics encompasses many disciplines, including physics, chemistry, mathematics, biology, biochemistry, medicine, pharmacology, physiology, and neuroscience, and it is essential that scientists working in these varied fields are able to understand each other's research. Comprehensive Biophysics, Nine Volume Set will help bridge that communication gap. Written by a team of researchers at the forefront of their respective fields, under the guidance of Chief Editor Edward Egelman, Comprehensive Biophysics, Nine Volume Set provides definitive introductions to a broad array of topics, uniting different areas of biophysics research - from the physical techniques for studying macromolecular structure to protein folding, muscle and molecular motors, cell biophysics, bioenergetics and more. The result is this comprehensive scientific resource - a valuable tool both for helping researchers come to grips quickly with material from related biophysics fields outside their areas of expertise, and for reinforcing their existing knowledge. Biophysical research today encompasses many areas of biology. These studies do not necessarily share a unique identifying factor. This work unites the different areas of research and allows users, regardless of their background, to navigate through the most essential concepts with ease, saving them time and vastly improving their understanding The field of biophysics counts several journals that are directly and indirectly concerned with the field. There is no reference work that encompasses the entire field and unites the different areas of research through deep foundational reviews. Comprehensive Biophysics fills this vacuum, being a definitive work on biophysics. It will help users apply context to the diverse journal literature offering, and aid them in identifying areas for further research Chief Editor Edward Egelman (E-I-C, Biophysical Journal) has assembled an impressive, world-class team of Volume Editors and Contributing Authors. Each chapter has been painstakingly reviewed and checked for consistent high quality. The result is an authoritative overview which ties the literature together and provides the user with a reliable background information and citation resource

Interactions between the fields of physics and biology reach back over a century, and some of the most significant developments in biology--from the discovery of DNA's structure to imaging of the human brain--have involved collaboration across this disciplinary boundary. For a new generation of physicists, the phenomena of life pose exciting challenges to physics itself, and biophysics has emerged as an important subfield of this discipline. Here, William Bialek provides the first graduate-level introduction to biophysics aimed at physics students. Bialek begins by exploring how photon counting in vision offers important lessons about the opportunities for quantitative, physics-style experiments on diverse biological phenomena. He draws from these lessons three general physical principles--the importance of noise, the need to understand the extraordinary performance of living systems without appealing to finely tuned parameters, and the critical role of the representation and flow of information in the business of life. Bialek then applies these principles to a broad range of phenomena, including the control of gene expression, perception and memory, protein folding, the mechanics of the inner ear, the dynamics of biochemical reactions, and pattern formation in developing embryos. Featuring numerous problems and exercises throughout, Biophysics emphasizes the unifying power of abstract physical principles to motivate new and novel experiments on biological systems. Covers a range of biological phenomena from the physicist's perspective Features 200 problems Draws on statistical mechanics, quantum mechanics, and related mathematical concepts Includes an annotated bibliography and detailed appendixes Instructor's manual (available only to teachers)

Physics and Biology demonstrates the unlimited possibilities of physics in explaining a variety of biological phenomena. It explores developments in biophysics and the most general problems of biological thermodynamics, information theory, and the physical theory of biological development and how they are all connected with the biophysics of complicated systems. Organized into 13 chapters, this volume begins with a historical overview of biophysics, with emphasis on molecular biophysics, followed by a discussion of the biophysics of the cell and of complicated systems. It then introduces the reader to the physical basis of theoretical chemistry and biologically functional substances, with emphasis on some concepts that are necessary for the understanding of molecular biophysics. The next chapters focus on some properties of biopolymers such as proteins and nucleic acids, how molecules interact with each other, and the peculiarities of macromolecules. More specifically, the molecules of organic substances, the chemical reaction involved in molecular interactions, van der Waals forces, and the role of hydrogen bonds in biological processes are considered. The final chapter analyzes the physicochemical basis of the functions of biological molecules. This book will be a valuable resource for physicists, biologists, chemists, natural scientists, and anyone who wants help in tackling some important biophysics-related problems in the contemporary natural sciences.