Physical Biology


Book Description

This title brings about the confluence of various concepts and tools to address significant problems of our time in physical biology and adjacent disciplines.




Physical Biology: From Atoms To Medicine


Book Description

This is an avant-garde book edited by Nobel Laureate Ahmed Zewail with contributions from eminent scientists including four Nobel prize winners. The perspectives of these world leaders in physics, chemistry, and biology define potential new frontiers at the interface of disciplines and including physical, systems, and synthetic biology.This book brings about the confluence of concepts and tools, and that of different disciplines, to address significant problems of our time: visualization; theory and computation for complexity; macromolecular function, protein folding and misfolding; and systems integration from cells to consciousness. The scope of tools is wide-ranging, spanning imaging, crystallography, microfluidics, single-molecule spectroscopy, and synthetic probe targeting. Concepts such as dynamic self-assembly, molecular recognition, non-canonical amino acids, and others are covered in various chapters as they are cornerstones in building the trilogy description of behavior-structure, dynamics, and function.The volume is uniquely structured to provide overviews with historical perspectives on the evolution of ideas and on the future of physical biology and biological complexity, from atoms to medicine./a




Physics in Biology and Medicine


Book Description

A best-selling resource now in its fifth edition, Paul Davidovits’ Physics in Biology and Medicine provides a high-quality and highly relevant physics grounding for students working toward careers in the medical and related professions. The text does not assume a prior background in physics, but provides it as required. It discusses biological systems that can be analyzed quantitatively and demonstrates how advances in the life sciences have been aided by the knowledge of physical or engineering analysis techniques, with applications, practice, and illustrations throughout. Physics in Biology and Medicine, Fifth Edition, includes new material and corresponding exercises on many exciting developments in the field since the prior edition, including biomechanics of joint replacement; biotribology and frictional properties of biological materials such as saliva, hair, and skin; 3-D printing and its use in medicine; new materials in dentistry; microfluidics and its applications to medicine; health, fractals, and the second law of thermodynamics; bioelectronic medicine; microsensors in medicine; role of myelin in learning, cryoelectron microscopy; clinical uses of sound; health impact of nanoparticle in polluted air. This revised edition delivers a concise and engaging introduction to the role and importance of physics in biology and medicine. It is ideal for courses in biophysics, medical physics, and related subjects. Provides practical information and techniques for applying knowledge of physics to the study of living systems. Presents material in a straightforward manner requiring very little prior knowledge of physics or biology. Includes many figures, examples, illustrative problems and appendices, which provide convenient access to the important concepts of mechanics, electricity, and optics used in the text. Features an Instructor Solutions Manual at textbooks.elsevier.com.




The Physical Basis of Biochemistry


Book Description

The objective of this book is to provide a unifying approach to the study of biophysical chemistry for the advanced undergraduate who has had a year of physics, organic chem istry, calculus, and biology. This book began as a revised edition of Biophysical Chemistry: Molecules to Membranes, which Elizabeth Simons and I coauthored. That short volume was written in an attempt to provide a concise text for a one-semester course in biophysical chemistry at the graduate level. The experience of teaching biophysical chemistry to bi ologically oriented students over the last decade has made it clear that the subject requires a more fundamental text that unifies the many threads of modem science: physics, chem istry, biology, mathematics, and statistics. This book represents that effort. This volume is not a treatment of modem biophysical chemistry with its rich history and many contro versies, although a book on that topic is also needed. The Physical Basis of Biochemistry is an introduction to the philosophy and practice of an interdisciplinary field in which biological systems are explored using the quantitative perspective of the physical scientist. I have three primary objectives in this volume: one, to provide a unifying picture of the interdisciplinary threads from which the tapestry of biophysical studies is woven; two, to provide an insight into the power of the modeling approach to scientific investigation; and three, to communicate a sense of excitement for the activity and wholesome argument that characterize this field of study.







Physical Biology of the Cell


Book Description

Physical Biology of the Cell is a textbook for a first course in physical biology or biophysics for undergraduate or graduate students. It maps the huge and complex landscape of cell and molecular biology from the distinct perspective of physical biology. As a key organizing principle, the proximity of topics is based on the physical concepts that




4D Electron Microscopy


Book Description

Structural phase transitions, mechanical deformations, and the embryonic stages of melting and crystallization are examples of phenomena that can now be imaged in unprecedented structural detail with high spatial resolution, and ten orders of magnitude as fast as hitherto. No monograph in existence attempts to cover the revolutionary dimensions that EM in its various modes of operation nowadays makes possible. The authors of this book chart these developments, and also compare the merits of coherent electron waves with those of synchrotron radiation. They judge it prudent to recall some important basic procedural and theoretical aspects of imaging and diffraction so that the reader may better comprehend the significance of the new vistas and applications now afoot. This book is not a vade mecum - numerous other texts are available for the practitioner for that purpose.




Visions of Discovery


Book Description

World-leading researchers, including Nobel Laureates, explore the most basic questions of science, philosophy, and the nature of existence.




4D Visualization of Matter


Book Description

Ever since the beginning of mankind's efforts to pursue scientific inquiry into the laws of nature, visualization of the very distant and the very small has been paramount. The examples are numerous. A century ago, the atom appeared mysterious, a “raisin or plum pie of no structure,” until it was visualized on the appropriate length and time scales. Similarly, with telescopic observations, a central dogma of the cosmos was changed and complexity yielded to simplicity of the heliocentric structure and motion in our solar system. For matter, in over a century of developments, major advances have been made to explore the inner microscopic structures and dynamics. These advances have benefited many fields of endeavor, but visualization was incomplete; it was limited either to the 3D spatial structure or to the 1D temporal evolution. However, in systems with myriads of atoms, 4D spatiotemporal visualization is essential for dissecting their complexity. The biological world is rich with examples, and many molecular diseases cannot be fully understood without such direct visualization, as, for example, in the case of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. The same is true for phenomena in materials science, chemistry, and nanoscience. This anthology is an account of the collected works that have emerged over the past decade from Caltech. Through recent publications, the volume provides overviews of the principles, the electron-based techniques, and the applications made. Thanks to advances in imaging principles and technology, it is now possible with 4D electron microscopy to reach ten orders of magnitude improvement in time resolution while simultaneously conserving the atomic spatial resolution in visualization. This is certainly a long way from Robert Hooke's microscopy, which was recorded in his 1665 masterpiece Micrographia.




Concepts of Biology


Book Description

Concepts of Biology is designed for the single-semester introduction to biology course for non-science majors, which for many students is their only college-level science course. As such, this course represents an important opportunity for students to develop the necessary knowledge, tools, and skills to make informed decisions as they continue with their lives. Rather than being mired down with facts and vocabulary, the typical non-science major student needs information presented in a way that is easy to read and understand. Even more importantly, the content should be meaningful. Students do much better when they understand why biology is relevant to their everyday lives. For these reasons, Concepts of Biology is grounded on an evolutionary basis and includes exciting features that highlight careers in the biological sciences and everyday applications of the concepts at hand.We also strive to show the interconnectedness of topics within this extremely broad discipline. In order to meet the needs of today's instructors and students, we maintain the overall organization and coverage found in most syllabi for this course. A strength of Concepts of Biology is that instructors can customize the book, adapting it to the approach that works best in their classroom. Concepts of Biology also includes an innovative art program that incorporates critical thinking and clicker questions to help students understand--and apply--key concepts.