BIOPHYSICS

A BRIDGE BETWEEN
NATURAL SCIENCES (BIOLOGY) AND PHYSICAL
SCIENCES (PHYSICS)
Biology studies life in its variety and
complexity. It describes how organisms go
about getting food, communicating, sensing
the environment, and reproducing.
On the other hand, physics looks for
mathematical laws of nature and makes
detailed predictions about the forces that drive
idealized systems.
Spanning the distance between the
complexity of life and the simplicity of physical
laws is the challenge of biophysics. Looking for
the patterns in life and analyzing them with
math and physics is a powerful way to gain
insights.
Definition: It is a discipline concerned with the

application of the principles of physics and other

physical sciences to the solution of biological/medical

problems.
Correlation between physics and biology.

Physics Biology/Medicine

Statics (kinematics) Skeletal function; orthopedics

Dynamics (motion) Spatial movement; heart and lung function

Charge transport Ion transport; nerve impulse

Surface tension Capillary action; fluid transport in cells
Thermodynamics Bioenergetics
Radiation physics Diagnostics; imaging and therapy
 What do biophysicists study?

Biophysicists study life at every level, from

atoms and molecules to cells, organisms, and
environments.
How do protein machines work?
Even though they are millions of times smaller
than everyday machines, molecular machines
work on the same principles. They use energy
to do work. Biophysics reveals how each step
is powered forward.
How do systems of nerve cells communicate?
Biophysicists invented colored protein tags for
the chemicals used by cells. Each cell takes on
a different color as it uses the tagged
chemicals, making it possible to trace its many
pathways.
• How do proteins pack DNA into viruses? How do viruses
invade cells?
• How do plants harness sunlight to make food?
• How to establish a synergy between electronics and biology
(Bioelectronics)?
• How to design and construct the unit processes that involve
biological organisms or molecules (Biochemical)?
• How to design building and spaces which create, support,
and enhance life and living systems (BioArchitecture)?
A glance of Biological World
 The base of Biological World

Four Classes of Building Blocks

• Fatty acids – Lipids
• Sugars – Carbohydrate
• Nucleotides – Nucleic acids
• Amino acids – Proteins
A biomolecule is any molecule that is produced by a living

organism, including large macromolecules such as proteins,

polysaccharides, lipids, and nucleic acids, as well as small

molecules such as primary metabolites, secondary metabolites,

and natural products.

Condensation : monomer → oligomer → polymer (chain)
Cells: The Basic Unit of Life
The living world is comprised of diverse forms of life
like bacteria, protozoa, plants and animals which
differ considerably in their morphology, function and
behaviour. They are made up of one or many cells.
All these cells exhibit a uniform plan of organisation
at their cellular, sub-cellular and molecular levels.
Why cell is regarded as the basic unit of life?

The cell is a fundamental structural and functional

unit of living organisms; because the cellular function

is destroyed with the destruction of cellular

organisation.

Structure↔ Function
A cell can be thought of as a factory, with different
departments each performing specialized tasks.
The structural comparison between animal and plant cell
 Structural differences between Plant and Animal Cells

PLANT CELLS ANIMAL CELLS

Cell walls almost present No cell walls present outside

the cell membrane

Plastids occur in cytoplasm No plastids are found

Lysosomes not usually not Lysosomes occur in cytoplasm

evident

Centrioles present only in Centrioles always present

cells of lower plant forms

Large vacuoles filled with Vacuoles, if present, are

cell sap small and contractile or
temporary vesicles
The PLASMA MEMBRANE regulates what
enters or leaves the cell. It is analogous to the
shipping and receiving department of a
factory. The plasma membrane also functions
as the communications department because it
is where the cell contacts the external
environment.

The NUCLEUS (or the executive department)

runs the cell factory and controls all cell
activity. It determines what proteins are to be
made and stores all the plans for any proteins
that the cell currently makes or has made in
the past.

The CYTOPLASM includes everything between

the cell membrane and the nucleus. It contains
various kinds of cell structures and is the site of
most cell activity. The cytoplasm is similar to
the factory floor where most of the products
are assembled, finished, and shipped.
 The plasma membrane consists of a
combination of phospholipids and proteins.
These proteins are not fixed in any rigid
pattern. Instead they float around in the
membrane. This is called the FLUID MOSAIC
MODEL of the cell membrane.

Phospholipids have a hydrophilic end that is

attracted to water and a hydrophobic end that
repels water.
Central Dogma of Biology

DNA → RNA → Protein

 DNA → RNA → Protein

• DNA is TRANSCRIBED to messenger RNA (mRNA)

• mRNA carries the message to tranfer RNA (tRNA)

• tRNA is TRANSLATED to an amino acid chain, which

makes up proteins
 Central Dogma of Biology
“The central dogma of molecular biology deals with the detailed
residue-by-residue transfer of sequential information. It states that
such information cannot be transferred back from protein to either
protein or nucleic acid.”

Francis Crick, 1958

 DNA → RNA → Protein
Nuclear
DNA membrane

Transcription
Pre-mRNA
Eukaryotic RNA Processing
Cell mRNA

Ribosome

Translation

Protein
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 Transcription

• The process of copying the sequence of

one strand of DNA, the template strand
• mRNA copies the template strand
• Requires the enzyme RNA Polymerase

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 Translation
• Translation is the process of decoding the
mRNA into a polypeptide chain
• Ribosomes read mRNA three bases or 1
codon at a time and construct the proteins

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Frank Lloyd Wright