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Sep 07, 2024
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PH 3710 - Intro to Biophysics3 lecture hours 0 lab hours 3 credits Course Description This course provides grounding in the physical principles that underlie the properties of biomolecules and phenomena in cell biology. Applies physical models to understand many biological systems at a quantitative level. Biorheology, Brownian motion and molecular transactions in macromolecules, membrane channels and pumps and molecular motors are introduced. (prereq: CH 223 , PH 2030) Course Learning Outcomes Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Apply knowledge of basic sciences, including physics, mathematics, and biology
- Understand the impact of the biophysical techniques on the scientific issues in a global, economic, environmental, and societal context and recognize the need for a life-long learning approach towards new professional ideas
- Describe physics of heat energy, free energy, and internal energy and their relation to biological systems
- Understand the hierarchy of scales in a cell and learn the biological macromolecules
- Apply the physics of the random walk, Brownian motion, friction, and diffusion to biological systems and describe different types of transport across the membrane
- Describe and calculate the Reynolds number and utilize it to qualify the relative importance of friction and inertia
- Analyze the behavior and phenomena in biological systems based on energy and entropy arguments
- Describe osmotic pressure and the applications of Laplace law and physical aspects of surface tension
- Explain how living cells generate electricity, and describe the molecular machines in membranes, the ion pumping, and the rotary motors
- Understand Nerve impulses and describe ionic basis of resting membrane potential and actual potential
- Develop scientific writing and communication skills through term paper and class discussion
Prerequisites by Topic
- Familiar with Kinetic Theory, 1st and 2nd Law of Thermodynamics, the ideal gas law, and the concept of entropy
- Familiar with different types of biomolecules, DNA, RNA, proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, etc. and understand the structures and functions of these biomolecules
Course Topics
- Cellular components and biological molecules: The physical aspects of cell function and structure, hierarchy, molecular components and molecular devices
- Diffusion and transport in cell. Random walks, friction, and diffusion Brownian motion, diffusion laws, diffusion equation, Fick’s Law and biological applications of diffusion
- The low Reynolds number world and biological applications
- Entropy, temperature, and free energy
- Microscopic view of entropic forces, osmotic pressure, and surface tension, ion cloud distributions, and charged surfaces
- Molecular machines in membranes. Electro osmotic effects, Donnan equilibrium, Ion pumping, rotary motors
- Nerve impulses, ion channels, action potential
Coordinator Dr. Nazieh Masoud
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