Molecular biophysics is a rapidly growing field of research that plays an important role in elucidating the mysteries of life's molecules and their assemblies, as well as the relationship between their structure and function. Introduction to Molecular Biophysics fills an existing gap in the literature on this subject by providing the reader with the modern theoretical tools needed to understand life processes from a physical viewpoint. The authors review numerous topics of relevance to biophysics, including peptide chains, DNA structure and function, cytoplasm, membranes, and motor proteins. Each chapter is richly illustrated and contains numerous examples, references, and problems that make this book useful as both an inclusive reference work and textbook.
Autorentext
Jack Tuszynski was born in Poznan, Poland in 1956. He earned an M.Sc. magna cum laude in physics from the University of Poznan and a Ph.D. in theoretical physics from the University of Calgary, Canada in 1983. After a brief post-doctoral fellowship in theoretical chemistry, he accepted a faculty position at Memorial University of Newfoundland. Since 1988, he has held a faculty position in physics at the University of Alberta in Edmonton and is now a full professor. He has also held visiting professor appointments in Warwick, U.K., Lyon, France, Leuven, Belgium, Copenhagen, Denmark, and Dusseldorf and Giessen, Germany. He leads a research group whose focus is the development of mathematical models for pharmaceutical applications. He lives in Edmonton with his wife and two sons.
Michal Kurzynski was born in Poznan, Poland in 1946. He earned a Ph.D. in solid state physics from the University of Poznan in 1973. Since 1980, he has held a professor position at the university's Institute of Physics. He has held a visiting professor appointment at the University Paris-Nord, France. He has served as a von Humboldt fellow at the University of Stuttgart, Germany, with Hermann Haken and at the Max Planck Institute, Goettingen, Germany, with Manfred Eigen. His main research interests are the theory of electronic and structural phase transitions in solids and nonequilibrium statistical physics. Recently, Dr. Kurzynski is involved in developing the foundations of the statistical theory of basic biochemical processes.Inhalt
1 Origins and Evolution of Life, 2 Structures of Biomolecules, 3 Dynamics of Biomolecules, 4 Structure of a Biological Cell, 5 Nonequilibrium Thermodynamics and Biochemical Reactions, 6 Molecular Biological Machines, 7 Nerve Cells, 8 Tissue and Organ Biophysics, 9 Biological Self-Regulation and Self-Organization, 10 Epilogue: Toward New Physics and New Biology, Appendix A Random Walks and Diffusion, Appendix B Models of Phase Transitions and Criticality, Appendix C Foundations of Nonlinear Physics, Appendix D Master Equations, Index