Biophysics for Beginners

Biophysics is a new way of looking at living matter. It uses quantitative experimental, theoretical, and computational methods and thus opens a new window for the study and understanding of life processes. This textbook presents a brief introduction to the fundamentals of the subject (molecular cell biology, statistical physics, etc.), followed by in-depth discussions on more advanced biophysical topics, including some of the latest experiments and their theoretical interpretations. The book is unique in that it gives a general introduction to biophysics, while limiting itself to the processes that take place in the cell nucleus and in which biopolymers (DNA, RNA, and proteins) are involved. This allows for a coherent story line that is easy for beginners to follow. At the same time, it enables more depth to be achieved, which makes this book interesting for specialists too. The second edition presents some of the newest developments in the field (e.g., biomolecular condensates, loop extrusion) and a new chapter on computational methods. In addition, the number of exercises has been expanded and now includes many computer exercises specially designed for this textbook.

Auteur

Helmut Schiessel studied physics at the Albert-Ludwigs University, Freiburg, Germany. There he did his PhD with Prof. A. Blumen in the Group for Theoretical Polymer Physics. After graduating in 1997, he worked as a postdoc with Prof. P. A. Pincus at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Then, he was a joint postdoc with Profs. W. M. Gelbart and R. Bruinsma at the University of California, Los Angeles. In 2000 he joined the Theory Group of the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Mainz, Germany, where he was in charge of a biophysics research project. From 2005 to 2020, Prof. Schiessel headed the chair of Theoretical Physics of Life Processes in the Instituut-Lorentz at Leiden University, the Netherlands. In 2021, he joined the Cluster of Excellence Physics of Life at the Technical University in Dresden, Germany, where he heads the Theoretical Physics of Living Matter group.

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Biophysics for Beginners