ELEMENTS OF BIOPHYSICS
cod. 1000046

Academic year 2009/10
2° year of course - First semester
Professor
Academic discipline
Fisica applicata (a beni culturali, ambientali, biologia e medicina) (FIS/07)
Field
A scelta dello studente
Type of training activity
Student's choice
32 hours
of face-to-face activities
4 credits
hub:
course unit
in - - -

Learning objectives

This course is intended to give an overview on the modern molecular biophysics. <br />
The aim of this course is to introduce in a qualitative manner, modern spectroscopic techniques and show selected applications to relevant current topics. It is intended to also show how physical methods can become extremely valuable tools for understanding biological processes. <br />
<br />
The selection of topics is intended to guide students to make a more thoughtful choice for their future studies, possibly in Biophysics. It is also intended to give students in Biological Sciences an overview on the modern experimental methods that are available to tackle very complex biological problems. <br />

Prerequisites

 

Course unit content

 A modern vision of biophysics <br />
Living systems and order generation <br />
Free energy transduction <br />
Diffusion and dissipation <br />
<br />
Random Walk, friction, and diffusion <br />
Diffusion of molecular species within cells <br />
<br />
The structure of proteins <br />
Function and strcucture of proteins <br />
Determiantion of protein structure <br />
Protein folding and energy landscape <br />
Spectroscopic methods for the study of protein folding <br />
<br />
Function of proteins: protein-ligand interactions <br />
Allostery <br />
Relations between function, structure, and dynamics <br />
Energy landscape e conformational suybstates <br />
<br />
Single Molecole Methods <br />
Statistical ensembles and single molecules <br />
<br />
Enzymes and molecular machines <br />

Full programme

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Bibliography

Biological Physics <br />
Energy, Information, Life <br />
Updated first edition <br />
<br />
Philip Nelson <br />
<br />
Palgrave Macmillan and WH Freeman ed. <br />

Teaching methods

The exam consists in the preparation of a written text by elaborating on one of the topics covered by the course.

Assessment methods and criteria

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Other information

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