Biological Physics
Supramolecular Structures Lab
Lösche/Heinrich Group
Biological Physics:
From Basic Concepts to Current Research
Course ID: 33-767
Lecturer: P. Mathias Lösche
Course Meeting Times
Wednesdays, Fridays: 1:30 – 2:50 p.m., DH A200
Text
Physical Biology of the Cell, Phillips et al. (2nd ed., Garland Science, NY 2013, ISBN 978-0-8153-4450-6)
Consultation Hours (office: Wean Hall 6311)
Thursdays: 9:00 – 10:00, or by appointment (Theresa Gabrielli, 8-8367)
There will be no recitations.
Course Objectives
Biological Physics aims to apply the principles of physics and the methods of mathematical analysis and computer modeling to understand how biological systems work. This course serves as an introduction into this discipline, suitable as a one-semester course for students not necessarily specializing in this area. It will both provide the necessary general concepts, as well as follow some selected topics up to the current frontier of research.
In this course, students will gain a deep appreciation of the fact that very basic physical and chemical principles underly many central life processes. Life is not only compatible with the laws of physics and chemistry, rather, it exploits them in ingenious ways. After taking the course, students should be able to name examples of such situations for which they can provide a coherent line of reasoning that outlines these connections. They will be able to explain key experiments by which these connections either have been found or are nowadays routinely established, and outline simple back-of-the-envelope estimates by which one can convince oneself of either the validity or inapplicability of certain popular models and ideas. They should also have become sufficiently familiar with the key terminology frequently encountered in biology, such that they can start to further educate themselves by consulting biological and biophysical literature.
In-class student presentations: starting April-26, 2019
Exam Schedule
There will not be any formal exams in this class.
(this is a past course)
download area
announcements
assignments
homework
student seminars