Physics of Living Systems
Arun ParamekantiAssociate Professor, Physics
Reductionist viewpoint does not imply we can construct macroscale
physics from knowledge of microscale physics
Basis of condensed matter physics, complexity, physicists’ attempts to understand biological systems
Max Delbruck
Dorothy Hodgkin
Erwin Schrodinger
Francis Crick
Marian Smoluchowski
Ludwig Boltzmann
Rosalind Franklin
Max Delbruck
Among the earliest “biophysicists” who converted many physicists to studying problems of biological interest
Nobel Prize in Medicine for work (with Salvador Luria) showing that immunity of bacteria to drugs is caused by
random mutations rather than adaptation
Physics and Biology
Ludwig Boltzmann
Atoms do existKinetic theory of gasesFounder of statistical physics
Thermodynamics and statistical physics
Albert Einstein
Randomness
Studied Brownian motion and provided a theoretical understanding of diffusion - a process of great biological importance as we will see
Marian Smoluchowski
Erwin Schrodinger
Quantum Physics
Theory of Quantum Mechanics (Nobel Prize, Physics)
Author of an influential essay “What is Life?” inspired by Max Delbruck
Dorothy Hodgkin
Francis Crick
Physics Tools[X-ray diffraction]
Applied X-ray crystallography to study an amazing variety of biological molecules - Penicillin, Vitamin B12, Insulin (Nobel Prize in Chemistry)
Worked on the structure of DNA
Rosalind Franklin
PERIODICITY
Regular in timeRegular in space
Body ClocksEmbryogenesis
Quantum mechanics
Oscillations
Light and Sound
RANDOMNESS
ProbabilityChance
Molecular EventsGenetics
EpidimiologyThermodynamicsPhysics Tools
X-ray diffraction (Crystal structure)Nuclear magnetic resonance (MRI)
LecturesWhen: Tue 2pm, Thu 2pm Where: MP134
Labs/TutorialsWhen: Fri 2-4pm (alternate 1 or 2 hrs)Where: MP238
When and Where and Why
TextbookBiological physics: Energy, Information, LifePhilip Nelson (W. H. Freeman)
Reference Random Walks in Biology, H. Berg
Books
Evaluation
Tutorials and Labs: 30%Homework assignments: 20%Midterm: 25%Final Exam: 25%
H1N1 preparedness
http://www.preparedness.utoronto.ca
If unwell, must get doctor’s note or check how to access the “Absence Registry” for any missed term work or exams. If you are at home on account of illness but wish to send in completed term work, you can scan and email it to the TA.
Email: Please put “PHY231” in subject