- Outline of biophysics
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The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to biophysics:
Biophysics – interdisciplinary science that uses the methods of physical science to study biological systems.[1]
Contents
Nature of biophysics
Biophysics is
- An academic discipline: one with academic departments, curricula and degrees; national and international societies; and specialized journals.
- A scientific field (a branch of science) – widely-recognized category of specialized expertise within science, and typically embodies its own terminology and nomenclature. Such a field will usually be represented by one or more scientific journals, where peer reviewed research is published.
- A natural science – one that seeks to elucidate the rules that govern the natural world using empirical and scientific methods.
- A biological science –
- A branch of physics –
- A natural science – one that seeks to elucidate the rules that govern the natural world using empirical and scientific methods.
- An interdisciplinary field – field of science that overlaps with other sciences
Scope of biophysics research
- Biomolecular scale
- Biomolecule
- Biomolecular structure
- Environmental scale
- Biophysical environment
Biophysics research overlaps with
- Agrophysics
- Biochemistry
- Biophysical chemistry
- Bioengineering
- Biogeophysics
- Nanotechnology
- Systems biology
Branches of biophysics
- Astrobiophysics –
- Medical biophysics – uses physics to describe and control biological processes for diagnostic and therapeutic applications. See also, medical physics.
- Clinical biophysics – studies the process and effects of non-ionising physical energies utilised for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes.[2][3]
- Membrane biophysics – study of biological membranes using physical, computational, mathematical, and biophysical methods.
- Molecular biophysics – interdisciplinary field that applies methods and concepts from physics, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and biology[4] to understand biomolecular systems and explain biological function in terms of molecular structure, structural organization, and dynamic behaviour at various levels of complexity, from single molecules to supramolecular]structures, viruses and small living systems.
Biophysical techniques
Biophysical techniques – methods used for gaining information about biological systems on an atomic or molecular level. They overlap with methods from many other branches of science.
- Biophotonics –
- Biosensor and Bioelectronics –
- Calcium imaging –
- Calorimetry –
- Chromatography – various techniques from this field are used for the purification and analysis of biological molecules
- Circular Dichroism –
- Computational chemistry – use of numerical methods to probe the structure and dynamical equilibrium in biological systems.
- Cryobiology –
- Dual Polarisation Interferometry – analytical technique used to measure the real-time conformation and activity of a wide range of biomolecules and their interactions.
- Electrophysiology – studies electrical properties of cell membranes and provide functional data, often related to systematic changes in structure.
- Electron microscopy – used to gain high-resolution images of subcellular structures
- Fluorescence spectroscopy – for detecting structural rearrangements, as well as interactions of biomolecules. See also, Fluorescence.
- Force spectroscopy – probes the mechanical properties of individual molecules or macromolecular assemblies using small flexible cantilevers, focused laser light, or magnetic fields.
- Gel electrophoresis – determines the mass, the charge and the interactions of biological molecules
- Imaging –
- Isothermal Titration Calorimetry (ITC) – measures the heat effects caused by interactions
- Mass spectrometry – technique that gives the molecular mass with great accuracy.
- Microscale Thermophoresis (MST) – method to measure binding affinities, enzymatic activities, changes in molecule conformation and changes in size, charge or hydration entropy.
- Microscopy – used in many ways, for example, to enabled the use of laser instruments for scanning and transmission.
- Atomic force microscopy –
- Neuroimaging –
- Neutron spin echo spectroscopy –
- Optical tweezers and Magnetic tweezers – allow for the manipulation of single molecules, providing information about DNA and its interaction with proteins and molecular motors, such as Helicase and RNA polymerase.
- Patch clamping –
- NMR spectroscopy – provides information about the exact structure of biological molecules, as well as on dynamics
- Single molecule spectroscopy – general term applied to a class of techniques that are sensitive enough to detect single molecules and often incorporates fluorescence detection.
- Small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) – technique that gives a rough low resolution molecular structure.
- Spectrophotometry – measurement of the transmission of light through different solutions or substances at different wavelengths of light.
- Spectroscopy &nd*Circular dichroism – method for detecting chiral groups in molecules, especially to determine the secondary structure of proteins
- Ultracentrifugation – gives information on the shape and mass of molecules
- X-ray crystallography – method to determin the exact structure of molecules with atomic resolution
Applications
Biophysical structures and phenomena
In molecular biophysics
- Molecular biophysics
- Biological membranes
- Cell membranes
- Bioenergetics
- Channels, receptors and transporters
- Enzyme kinetics
- Molecular motors
- Phospholipids
- Proteins
- Biofilms
- Supramolecular assemblies
- Nucleic acids
In cellular biophysics
- Cellular biology
- Cell division
- Cell migration
- Cell signalling
- Dynamical systems
- Electrophysiology
- Signaling
- Biochemical systems theory
- Metabolic control analysis
Biophysics organizations
- Biophysical Society
- European Biophysical Societies' Association
Biophysics publications
- Bibliography of biophysics
- Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications
- Biophysical Journal
- Biophysical Reviews and Letters
Persons influential in biophysics
- List of biophysicists
See also
- Physiomics
- Animal locomotion
- Bioacoustics
- Biomechanics
- Biomineralisation
- Bionics
- Evolution
- Evolutionary algorithms
- Evolutionary computing
- Evolutionary theory
- Gravitational biology
- Mathematical biology
- Morphogenesis
- Muscle and contractility
- Negentropy
- Neural encoding
- Radiobiology
- Sensory systems
- Systems neuroscience
- Tensegrity
- Theoretical biology
References
- ^ Careers in Biophysics brochure, Biophysical Society https://www.biophysics.org/Portals/1/PDFs/Career%20Center/Careers%20In%20Biophysics.pdf
- ^ Aaron RK, Ciombor DM, Wang S, Simon B. Clinical biophysics: the promotion of skeletal repair by physical forces. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2006 Apr;1068:513-31. Review.
- ^ Anbar, M. Clinical biophysics: A new concept in undergraduate medical education. J Medical Education, 56, 443–444 (1981)
- ^ What is a molecular biophysics?
External links
- Biophysical Society
- Nasif Nahle, Biophysics
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