BIOPHYSICS

In this course specificity of biological living systems will be presented from the physical point of view. Unique features of biological matter will be outlined, with emphasis on chemical bonds that govern life – covalent bonds, H-bonds, VdW interactions. Special role of water will be stressed. A review of protein, membranes and DNA structures is a part of this course. Entropy and other thermodynamical functions will be discussed and linked with free energy changes in enzymatic reactions. Deeper understanding of transport processes and information flow in living systems will be presented. Passive and active transport together with ion channels is explained. Another topic is related to brain, action potential and synapses. Receptors and sensing will be discussed. Substantial part is devoted to oxygen transport processes and phenomenon of cooperativity. Some biophysical methods used in medicine will be presented – basics of pulsoxymetry, photodynamics therapy or dialysis.