Physics In Molecular Biology

This book, first published in 2005, is a discussion for advanced physics students of how to use physics to model biological systems.

Soft condensed matter physics, which emerged as a distinct branch of physics in the 1990s, studies complex fluids: liquids in which structures with length scale between the molecular and the macroscopic exist. Polymers, liquid crystals, surfactant solutions, and colloids fall into this category. Physicists deal with properties of soft matter system

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.

Provides an introduction to the structure and function of biomolecules --- especially proteins --- and the physical tools used to investigate them The discussion concentrates on physical tools and properties, emphasizing techniques that are contributing to new developments and avoiding those that are already well established and whose results have already been exploited fully New tools appear regularly - synchrotron radiation, proton radiology, holography, optical tweezers, and muon radiography, for example, have all been used to open new areas of understanding

Molecular Driving Forces, Second Edition E-book is an introductory statistical thermodynamics text that describes the principles and forces that drive chemical and biological processes. It demonstrates how the complex behaviors of molecules can result from a few simple physical processes, and how simple models provide surprisingly accurate insights into the workings of the molecular world. Widely adopted in its First Edition, Molecular Driving Forces is regarded by teachers and students as an accessible textbook that illuminates underlying principles and concepts. The Second Edition includes two brand new chapters: (1) "Microscopic Dynamics" introduces single molecule experiments; and (2) "Molecular Machines" considers how nanoscale machines and engines work. "The Logic of Thermodynamics" has been expanded to its own chapter and now covers heat, work, processes, pathways, and cycles. New practical applications, examples, and end-of-chapter questions are integrated throughout the revised and updated text, exploring topics in biology, environmental and energy science, and nanotechnology. Written in a clear and reader-friendly style, the book provides an excellent introduction to the subject for novices while remaining a valuable resource for experts.

acids. The achievements of molecular biology testify to the success of material science in a realm which, until recently, appeared totally enig matic and mysterious. Further scientific developments should bring to mankind vast developments both in theoretical knowledge and in practical applications, namely, in agriculture, medicine, and technology. The purpose of this book is to explain molecular biophysics to all who might wish to learn about it, to biologists, to physicists, to chemists. This book contains descriptive sections, as well as sections devoted to rigorous mathematical treatment of a number of problems, some of which have been studied by the author and his collaborators. These sections may be omitted during a first reading. Each chapter has a selected bibliography. This book is far from an exhaustive treatise on molecular biophysics. It deals principally with questions related to the structures and functions of proteins and nucleic acids. M. V. Vol'kenshtein Leningrad, September, 1964 CONTENTS Chapter 1 Physics and Biology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Physics and Life. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Molecular Physics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Molecular Biophysics ................................... 9 Thermodynamics and Biology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 . . . . . . . Information Theory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 . . . . . . . . . . Chapter 2 Cells, Viruses, and Heredity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 . . . . . . . . The Living Cell. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 . . . . . . . . . . . Cell Division. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 . . . . . . . . . . . . Viruses and Bacteriophages ........... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 . . . . Basic Laws of Genetics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 . . . . . . . . . Mutations and Mutability ........ , ................. " . . . . 60 Genetics of Bacteria and Phages " . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 . . . . . . Chapter 3 Biological Molecules. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 . . . . . . . . . . Amino Acids and Proteins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 . . . . . . . . Asymmetry of Biological Molecules ....................... 87 Primary Structure of Proteins ............................ 94 Nucleic Acids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 . . . . . . . . . . . . Some Biochemical Processes in the Cell. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 . . . . Chapter 4 Physics of Macromolecules. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 . . . . . . . . .

Introduction to Molecular Biology focuses on the principles of polymer physics and chemistry and their applications to fundamental phenomena in biological sciences. It examines the structure, synthesis, and function of nucleic acids and proteins, as well as the physicochemical techniques necessary in determining the macromolecular structure, the kinetics and mechanism of enzyme action, the genetics of bacteria and their viruses, and the genetic code. It also considers the importance of precise quantitative analysis in biochemistry and biophysics, the architecture and function of biological macromolecules, and the unique mechanisms that regulate the cell's biological activity. Organized into five chapters, this book begins with an overview of proteins and their functional activity, from contractility and enzymatic catalysis to immunological activity, formation of selectively permeable membranes, and reversible binding and transport. It explains how such functions are related to molecular interactions and therefore fall within the purview of molecular biology. The book then proceeds with a discussion on the chemical structure of proteins and nucleic acids, the physicochemical techniques in measuring molecular size and shape, the mechanism of enzymatic reactions, the functions of DNA and RNA, and the mechanism of phase transition in polynucleotides. This book is intended for both biologists and non-biologists who want to be acquainted with the advances made in molecular biology, molecular genetics, and molecular biophysics during the 1950s and 1960s.