Frontiers in Biophysics (CHEM 163)

This interdisciplinary course will explore the physical interactions that underpin life: the interactions of molecules, macromolecular structures, and cells in warm, wet, squishy environments.  Topics will include Brownian motion, diffusion in a potential field, continuum mechanics of polymers, rods, and membranes, low Reynolds number flow, interfacial forces, electrostatics in solution.  The course will also cover recently developed biophysical tools, including laser tweezers, superresolution microscopies, and optogenetics.  Numerical simulations in Matlab will be used extensively.