Biophysics Searching for Principles

Molecular Biophysics

This note covers the following topics: Structure of DNA, Base-pair Interactions and DNA Melting, Mechanics and Statistical Mechanics of DNA, Electrostatics of DNA and DNA -DNA Interactions, DNA Collapse and DNA Mesophases, DNA Organization in Chromatin and Viruses.

Author(s): Rudi Podgornik

320 Pages

Introduction to biophysics

This introductory note on biophysics introduces the principles of electrical excitability of cell membranes, which form the basis of all information processing in the nervous system. Topics covered includes: neurons and the brain, Electrical properties of cells, Hodgkin-Huxley model of action potentials, Synapses and Perceptrons.

Author(s): Bert Kappen

97 Pages

Systems Biology

This note covers the following topics: Michaelis-Menten kinetics, equilibrium binding, Lambda phage, multistability, synthetic genetic switches, stability analysis, introduction to E.coli chemotaxis, Fine-tuned versus Robust chemotaxis models, wrapping up chemotaxis, genetic oscillators,  stochastic chemical kinetics, cell systems biology-'the importance of diffusion and gradients for cellular regulation', Quorum sensing, Drosophila development.

Author(s): Prof. Alexander van Oudenaarden

NA Pages

Statistical Physics in Biology

This course provides a survey of problems at the interface of statistical physics and modern biology. Topics covered includes: bioinformatic methods for extracting information content of DNA, gene finding, sequence comparison, and phylogenetic trees, physical interactions responsible for structure of biopolymers, DNA double helix, secondary structure of RNA, and elements of protein folding, considerations of force, motion, and packaging, protein motors and membranes.

Author(s): Prof. Mehran Kardar and Prof. Leonid Mirny

NA Pages