What is Physics 450 All About?
This is an introductory course aimed at explaining biological phenomena
inside the cell, in terms of the basic physical laws that govern biomolecular
conformations and self-organization. The kinds of things that
you will learn include
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Physical properties - e.g. elasticity - of proteins, nucleic acids, and
cell membranes
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How those properties play a role in basic cell processes
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Transport of materials inside cells - including the role of molecular `motors'
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The kinds of experiments being developed to gain insight into these questions
If you are interested in knowing how to think about parts of cells in the
language of physics - in other words from a mechanistic point of view -
this course is for you. A lot of the material you will learn
is the result of recent research.
People who might be interested in this course include:
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Chemistry and physics students who want an introduction to biology from
a physical science point of view, or who are thinking about doing biophysical
research
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Bioengineering students who are thinking about how to build micromachines
which incorporate biological molecules as components,
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Biology students who would like to hear about biomolecules from the point
of view of their physical properties
This course will not emphasize the biochemical description of cells which
you can learn about in biochemistry and microbiology courses, although
we will teach you a bit about biochemistry. But we won't need to
worry about `where the atoms are' in the detail that biochemistry
courses do. So only the most basic understanding of chemistry
(e.g. that a carbon atom has 4 outer electrons that can happily participate
in covalent bonds) is required.
Very roughly the sections of the course will be (see the base web page
for a detailed listing of topics)
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Some elementary physics - heat, diffusion, hydrodynamics
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Some elementary molecular biology - genes, nucleic acids, proteins
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A quick tour of polymer physics - properties of long, flexible chain molecules
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Chemical properties of proteins
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Experimental techniques used in biophysics
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Cell membranes
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Cell skeleton
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Transport processes in cells
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Overview of cells
A bit of physics is required, including some background in basic mechanics,
ability to work a bit of calculus, and some appreciation of heat, thermodynamics,
and diffusion (although we will remind you of almost all of what you need
to know in this regard). Some very rough knowledge of quantum
mechanics (e.g. the existence of quantized energy levels of atoms and molecules)
will also come in handy. For UIC students, a suitable prereq is Physics
244/245, although other combinations of courses are suitable. See
the instructors if you have questions about your preparation.
A list of suggested textbooks is on the course web page. They
are not required, and we certainly will not cover their entire contents.
However, you might consider a copy of either of the molecular biology books
listed (either Darnell or Alberts) which are like big encylopaedias which
can be fun to read. Also, the book by Berg is an inexpensive paperback,
and is a superb introduction to diffusion at the level that will be discussed
in the course. Finally, the book by de Gennes is a classic introduction
to the physics of polymers, although you will certainly receive complete
lecture material on what you need to know about polymers.
We have two partially completed textbooks aimed at this sort of course
in photocopy form, from Prof. Philip Nelson of U. Penn, and from Prof.
D. Boal from Simon Fraser University. Some handouts will be given
from these books for your reading enjoyment. You will also
receive some research papers to read which illustrate some of the things
discussed in the text.