Physics of life

PHYS-468 / 4 credits

Teacher: Stahlberg Henning Paul-Julius

Language: English

Summary

Life has emerged on our planet from physical principles such as molecular self-organization, thermodynamics, stochastics and iterative refinement. This course will introduce the physical methods to study life and will discuss the quantitative and physical concepts that make life possible.

Content

  • The structural organization of life
  • Protein purification
  • ATP Synthase as an example for a fascinating bio-energy converter
  • Protein folding principles
  • Membrane potential, proton-motive force
  • Surface effects, osmosis, capillary forces
  • Water channels, ion channels, Photosynthesis at the molecular level
  • Electron microscopy in Life Sciences
  • Mechanisms of neurodegeneration as seen by electron microscopes
  • Hydrodynamic methods, viscosity, cell sorting
  • Mass spectrometrty
  • Atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray spectroscopy and X-ray tomography / ptychography
  • Radiation Biophysics, the positive and damaging interaction of radiation with life
  • Interactions between particle beams and living matter (Light, X-rays, OCT), Free Electron Laser

Learning Prerequisites

Recommended courses

  • Biophysics: physics of the cell (P. De Los Rios, S. Manley, BA6)
  • Biophysics: physics of biological systems (S. Rahi, MA1)

Important concepts to start the course

  • Thermodynamics, Fourier transformation

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, the student must be able to:

  • Describe the molecules and structural arrangement of modern biological cells
  • Describe and quantitatively understand the physical mechanisms that drive living organisms.
  • Explain the biophysical tools used to study the molecules of life and interpret their data.
  • Describe the molecules and structural arrangement of modern biological cells.
  • Describe and quantitatively understand the physical mechanisms that drive living organisms.
  • Explain the biophysical tools used to study the molecules of life and interpret their data.

Teaching methods

  • 2 hours of class + 2 hour of exercises

Expected student activities

During the exercises, questions relevant to the topics of the previous lecture will be presented. Students then have 30 minutes time to prepare answers to these questions. After that, we will together discuss the different questions and the developed answers.  These questions are templates for the style and topics of the questions of the exam.

Assessment methods

  • The course grading is composed of a final written exam

Resources

Bibliography

  • David Sheehan: Physical Biochemistry, Principles and Applications (Wiley, 2013)

Ressources en bibliothèque

Moodle Link

In the programs

  • Semester: Spring
  • Exam form: Written (summer session)
  • Subject examined: Physics of life
  • Courses: 2 Hour(s) per week x 14 weeks
  • Exercises: 2 Hour(s) per week x 14 weeks
  • Type: optional
  • Semester: Spring
  • Exam form: Written (summer session)
  • Subject examined: Physics of life
  • Courses: 2 Hour(s) per week x 14 weeks
  • Exercises: 2 Hour(s) per week x 14 weeks
  • Type: optional
  • Semester: Spring
  • Exam form: Written (summer session)
  • Subject examined: Physics of life
  • Courses: 2 Hour(s) per week x 14 weeks
  • Exercises: 2 Hour(s) per week x 14 weeks
  • Type: optional
  • Semester: Spring
  • Exam form: Written (summer session)
  • Subject examined: Physics of life
  • Courses: 2 Hour(s) per week x 14 weeks
  • Exercises: 2 Hour(s) per week x 14 weeks
  • Type: optional
  • Semester: Spring
  • Exam form: Written (summer session)
  • Subject examined: Physics of life
  • Courses: 2 Hour(s) per week x 14 weeks
  • Exercises: 2 Hour(s) per week x 14 weeks
  • Type: optional
  • Semester: Spring
  • Exam form: Written (summer session)
  • Subject examined: Physics of life
  • Courses: 2 Hour(s) per week x 14 weeks
  • Exercises: 2 Hour(s) per week x 14 weeks
  • Type: optional

Reference week

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