260049 VU Molecular Biology for Physicists (2022S)

This VU aims at introducing the basic concepts of molecular and cellular biology to physicists. The emphasis will be put on a quantitative understanding of the complex environment and mechanisms inside cells, as well as of the relevant length, time, and energy scales. Every week, a new topic will be introduced in 2h of lecture. After that the students will calculate order of magnitude estimates for important biological quantities in 1h of exercises.

Example questions include:
How many proteins are in a cell?
How much energy is created per photon in photosynthesis?
What force is applied in molecular machines?
How much of your body weight is bacteria?

The content taught in this VU will enable the students to communicate in an interdisciplinary environment. The quantitative understanding will allow them to tackle challenging biological problems with a physicist’s mindset.

Topics that will be covered:
1. What are cells?
2. What are organelles?
3. What’s DNA/RNA?
4. What are proteins?
5. What are membranes?
6. The molecular machinery: Exemplified by the central dogma of molecular biology.
7. Dynamics in molecular systems - From fs electron dynamics to diffusion
8. Dynamics in cellular systems - From ms action potentials to hours in the cell cycle
9. Energy in cellular and molecular systems - Photosynthesis, ATP – ADP conversion
10. Forces in cellular and molecular systems
11. Information in cellular and molecular systems - Entropy, DNA replication,...
12. Feedback Loops in cellular biology