Biophysics

Biophysics is an interdisciplinary science using methods of, and theories from, physics to study biological systems. Biophysics spans all scales of biological organization, from the molecular scale to whole organisms and ecosystems. Biophysical research shares significant overlap with biochemistry, nanotechnology, bioengineering, computational biology and (complex) systems biology. It has been suggested as a bridge between biology and physics.

The term "biophysics" was originally introduced by Karl Pearson in 1892.[1][2]

Overview

Molecular biophysics typically addresses biological questions similar to those in biochemistry and molecular biology, but more quantitatively. Scientists in this field conduct research concerned with understanding the interactions between the various systems of a cell, including the interactions between DNA, RNA and protein biosynthesis, as well as how these interactions are regulated. A great variety of techniques are used to answer these questions.

Fluorescent imaging techniques, as well as electron microscopy, x-ray crystallography, NMR spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy (AFM) and small-angle scattering (SAS) both with X-rays and neutrons (SAXS/SANS) are often used to visualize structures of biological significance. Protein dynamics can be observed by neutron spin echo spectroscopy. Conformational change in structure can be measured using techniques such as dual polarisation interferometry, circular dichroism, SAXS and SANS. Direct manipulation of molecules using optical tweezers or AFM, can also be used to monitor biological events where forces and distances are at the nanoscale. Molecular biophysicists often consider complex biological events as systems of interacting entities which can be understood e.g. through statistical mechanics, thermodynamics and chemical kinetics. By drawing knowledge and experimental techniques from a wide variety of disciplines, biophysicists are often able to directly observe, model or even manipulate the structures and interactions of individual molecules or complexes of molecules.

In addition to traditional (i.e. molecular and cellular) biophysical topics like structural biology or enzyme kinetics, modern biophysics encompasses an extraordinarily broad range of research, from bioelectronics to quantum biology involving both experimental and theoretical tools. It is becoming increasingly common for biophysicists to apply the models and experimental techniques derived from physics, as well as mathematics and statistics (see biomathematics), to larger systems such as tissues, organs, populations and ecosystems. Biophysical models are used extensively in the study of electrical conduction in single neurons, as well as neural circuit analysis in both tissue and whole brain.

History

Some of the earlier studies in biophysics were conducted in the 1840s by a group known as the Berlin school of physiologists. Among its members were pioneers such as Hermann von Helmholtz, Ernst Heinrich Weber, Carl F. W. Ludwig, and Johannes Peter Müller.[3] Biophysics might even be seen as dating back to the studies of Luigi Galvani.

The popularity of the field rose when the book “What is life?” by Erwin Schrödinger was published. Since 1957 biophysicists have organized themselves into the Biophysical Society which now has about 7,000 members over the world.[4]

Focus as a subfield

Generally, biophysics does not have university-level departments of its own, but has presence as groups across departments within the fields of molecular biology, biochemistry, chemistry, computer science, mathematics, medicine, pharmacology, physiology, physics, and neuroscience. What follows is a list of examples of how each department applies its efforts toward the study of biophysics. This list is hardly all inclusive. Nor does each subject of study belong exclusively to any particular department. Each academic institution makes its own rules and there is much overlap between departments.

Many biophysical techniques are unique to this field. Research efforts in biophysics are often initiated by scientists who were traditional physicists, chemists, and biologists by training.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Pearson, Karl (1892). The Grammar of Science. p. 470.
  2. ↑ Roland Glaser. Biophysics: An Introduction. Springer; 23 April 2012. ISBN 978-3-642-25212-9.
  3. ↑ Donald R. Franceschetti. Applied Science - 5 Volume Set. SALEM PressINC; 15 May 2012. ISBN 978-1-58765-781-8. p. 234.
  4. ↑ Joe Rosen; Lisa Quinn Gothard. Encyclopedia of Physical Science. Infobase Publishing; 2009. ISBN 978-0-8160-7011-4. p. 49.

Notes

  • Perutz MF (1962). Proteins and Nucleic Acids: Structure and Function. Amsterdam: Elsevier. ASIN B000TS8P4G.
  • Perutz MF (1969). "The haemoglobin molecule". Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B 173 (31): 113–40. Bibcode:1969RSPSB.173..113P. doi:10.1098/rspb.1969.0043. PMID 4389425.
  • Dogonadze RR, Urushadze ZD (1971). "Semi-Classical Method of Calculation of Rates of Chemical Reactions Proceeding in Polar Liquids". J Electroanal Chem 32 (2): 235–245. doi:10.1016/S0022-0728(71)80189-4.
  • Volkenshtein M.V., Dogonadze R.R., Madumarov A.K., Urushadze Z.D. and Kharkats Yu.I. Theory of Enzyme Catalysis.- Molekuliarnaya Biologia (Moscow), 6, 1972, pp. 431–439 (In Russian, English summary. Available translations in Italian, Spanish, English, French)
  • Philip Nelson (2014). Biological Physics: Energy, Information, Life: With new art by David Goodsell. W. H. Freeman and Co.
  • Rodney M. J. Cotterill (2002). Biophysics : An Introduction. Wiley. ISBN 978-0-471-48538-4.
  • Sneppen K, Zocchi G (2005-10-17). Physics in Molecular Biology (1 ed.). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-84419-3.
  • Glaser, Roland (2004-11-23). Biophysics: An Introduction (Corrected ed.). Springer. ISBN 3-540-67088-2.
  • Hobbie RK, Roth BJ (2006). Intermediate Physics for Medicine and Biology (4th ed.). Springer. ISBN 978-0-387-30942-2.
  • Cooper WG (2009). "Evidence for transcriptase quantum processing implies entanglement and decoherence of superposition proton states". BioSystems 97 (2): 73–89. doi:10.1016/j.biosystems.2009.04.010. PMID 19427355.
  • Cooper WG (2009). "Necessity of quantum coherence to account for the spectrum of time-dependent mutations exhibited by bacteriophage T4". Biochem. Genet. 47 (11–12): 892–910. doi:10.1007/s10528-009-9293-8. PMID 19882244.
  • Goldfarb, Daniel (2010). Biophysics Demystified. McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-163365-0.

External links

At Wikiversity, you can learn more and teach others about Biophysics at the Department of Biophysics