Ebook: Forces, Growth and Form in Soft Condensed Matter: At the Interface between Physics and Biology

This volume comprises the proceedings of a NATO Advanced Study Institute held at Geilo, Norway, 24 March - 3 April 2003, the seventeenth ASI in a series held every two years since 1971. The objective of this ASI was to identify and discuss areas where synergism between modern physics, soft condensed matter and biology might be most fruitful. The main pedagogical approach was to have lecturers focussing on basic understanding of important aspects of the relative role of the various interaction- electrostatic, hydrophobic, steric, conformational, van der Waals etc. Soft condensed matter and the connection between physics and biology have been the themes of several earlier Geilo Schools. A return to these subjects thus allowed a fresh look and a possibility for defining new directions for research. Examples of soft materials, which were discussed at this ASI, included colloidal dispersions, gels, biopolymers and charged polymer solutions, polyelectrolytes, protein/membrane complexes, nucleic acids and their complexes. Indeed, most forms of condensed matter are soft and these substances are composed of aggregates and macromolecules, with interactions that are too weak and complex to form crystals spontaneously. A characteristic feature is that small external forces, slight perturbations in temperature, pressure or concentration, can all be enough to induce significant structural changes. Thermal fluctuations are almost by definition strong in soft materials and entropy is a predominant determinant of structure, so that disorder, slow dynamics and plastic deformation are the rule. Hence the phrase ‘soft condensed matter’ has been coined.

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The book reviews the current experimental and theoretical knowledge of the synergism between modern physics, soft condensed matter and biology, presenting a thorough discussion of the relative role of the various fundamental interactions in such systems: electrostatic, hydrophobic, steric, conformational, van der Waals, etc. These competing interactions influence the form and topology of soft and biological matter, like polymers and proteins, leading to hierarchical structures in self-assembling systems and folding patterns sometimes described in terms of chirality, braids and knots. Finally, the competing interactions influence various bioprocesses like genetic regulation and biological evolution taking place in systems like biopolymers, macromolecules and cell membranes.
The authors include theoretical physicists, soft condensed matter experimentalists, biological physicists, and molecular biologists - all leaders in their respective fields. Aside from the need to gain new, fundamental insights, the subject area is also of great importance for many applications, in that self-assembly and hierarchical assembly are important features to achieve functionality on multiple length scales. Applications range from the nanoscopic (e.g., biomolecular material and copolymeric mesophases) to the microscopic (all organic microelectronics) to the macroscopic (high-performance structural composites).

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The book reviews the current experimental and theoretical knowledge of the synergism between modern physics, soft condensed matter and biology, presenting a thorough discussion of the relative role of the various fundamental interactions in such systems: electrostatic, hydrophobic, steric, conformational, van der Waals, etc. These competing interactions influence the form and topology of soft and biological matter, like polymers and proteins, leading to hierarchical structures in self-assembling systems and folding patterns sometimes described in terms of chirality, braids and knots. Finally, the competing interactions influence various bioprocesses like genetic regulation and biological evolution taking place in systems like biopolymers, macromolecules and cell membranes.
The authors include theoretical physicists, soft condensed matter experimentalists, biological physicists, and molecular biologists - all leaders in their respective fields. Aside from the need to gain new, fundamental insights, the subject area is also of great importance for many applications, in that self-assembly and hierarchical assembly are important features to achieve functionality on multiple length scales. Applications range from the nanoscopic (e.g., biomolecular material and copolymeric mesophases) to the microscopic (all organic microelectronics) to the macroscopic (high-performance structural composites).
Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-xvii
The Physico-Chemical Basis of Self-Assembling Structures....Pages 1-28
Supramolecular Assembly of Biological Molecules....Pages 29-50
Simple Examples of Cell Motility....Pages 51-64
Statistical Physics of Unzipping DNA....Pages 65-92
Can Theory Predict Two-State Protein Folding Rates? An Experimental Perspective....Pages 93-111
Copolymers with Long-Range Correlations: Sequence Design Near a Surface....Pages 113-134
Novel approach to the study of rotational and translational diffusion in crystals....Pages 135-144
The Bacterial Flagellar Motor....Pages 145-164
Self-Assembly and Dynamics of Magnetic Holes....Pages 165-179
Structures in Molecular Networks....Pages 181-193
Oscillating Gene Expressions in Regulatory Networks....Pages 195-202
Transport Properties of Segmented Polymers and Non-Spherical Nanoparticles Studied by Brownian Dynamics Simulations....Pages 203-216
Cytokinesis: The Initial Linear Phase Crosses Over to a Multiplicity of Non-Linear Endings....Pages 217-234
Information Dynamics in Living Systems....Pages 235-242
Back Matter....Pages 243-244

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The book reviews the current experimental and theoretical knowledge of the synergism between modern physics, soft condensed matter and biology, presenting a thorough discussion of the relative role of the various fundamental interactions in such systems: electrostatic, hydrophobic, steric, conformational, van der Waals, etc. These competing interactions influence the form and topology of soft and biological matter, like polymers and proteins, leading to hierarchical structures in self-assembling systems and folding patterns sometimes described in terms of chirality, braids and knots. Finally, the competing interactions influence various bioprocesses like genetic regulation and biological evolution taking place in systems like biopolymers, macromolecules and cell membranes.
The authors include theoretical physicists, soft condensed matter experimentalists, biological physicists, and molecular biologists - all leaders in their respective fields. Aside from the need to gain new, fundamental insights, the subject area is also of great importance for many applications, in that self-assembly and hierarchical assembly are important features to achieve functionality on multiple length scales. Applications range from the nanoscopic (e.g., biomolecular material and copolymeric mesophases) to the microscopic (all organic microelectronics) to the macroscopic (high-performance structural composites).
Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-xvii
The Physico-Chemical Basis of Self-Assembling Structures....Pages 1-28
Supramolecular Assembly of Biological Molecules....Pages 29-50
Simple Examples of Cell Motility....Pages 51-64
Statistical Physics of Unzipping DNA....Pages 65-92
Can Theory Predict Two-State Protein Folding Rates? An Experimental Perspective....Pages 93-111
Copolymers with Long-Range Correlations: Sequence Design Near a Surface....Pages 113-134
Novel approach to the study of rotational and translational diffusion in crystals....Pages 135-144
The Bacterial Flagellar Motor....Pages 145-164
Self-Assembly and Dynamics of Magnetic Holes....Pages 165-179
Structures in Molecular Networks....Pages 181-193
Oscillating Gene Expressions in Regulatory Networks....Pages 195-202
Transport Properties of Segmented Polymers and Non-Spherical Nanoparticles Studied by Brownian Dynamics Simulations....Pages 203-216
Cytokinesis: The Initial Linear Phase Crosses Over to a Multiplicity of Non-Linear Endings....Pages 217-234
Information Dynamics in Living Systems....Pages 235-242
Back Matter....Pages 243-244
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