Welcome

Welcome to Physical Cell Biology!

Equation sheet for the final exam

Course description:

This interdisciplinary lecture class provides graduate students with a common language to quantitatively describe biological processes. The focus is on the biological and physical aspects of structure and function of living cells and their subsystems. It will emphasize current quantitative advances in cell biology and cover topics such as the structure and dynamics of cell membranes, the dynamics of the cytoskeleton and molecular motors, DNA replication and repair, genome packing, gene regulation, and signaling pathways. The course aims to give biology and bioengineering students a more quantitative background for describing biological processes and provide physics and chemistry students with a strong introduction to biomolecules and cellular processes.

Learning outcomes:

After completing this class, a successful student will be able to:

  • Describe the basic biological principles of living cells and their subsystems.
  • Describe physical principles and use mathematics to model the processes that govern cellular structures and functions.
  • Read primary research literature in this scientific area and formulate a concise synopsis of the core aspects of those manuscripts
  • Communicate effectively with researchers working in interdisciplinary fields that necessitate a quantitative understanding of living cells.

 

Assignments

Homework and group assignments will appear here.

Homework 0:  Please fill out the CATME survey and acquire a copy of the required textbook.

Homework 1: Due Tuesday Sept 11. Solutions.

Homework 2: Due Tuesday Sept 18. Solutions .

Homework 3: Optional, but strongly suggested as preparation for exam. Solutions .

Homework 4: Due Thursday, Oct 4th at the beginning of class. Link to website with images for this question. Solutions.

Homework 5: Due Thursday, Oct 11th at the beginning of class. Solutions.

Homework 6: Due Thursday, Oct 19th at the beginning of class. Solutions.

Homework 7: Due Nov 8th at the beginning of class. Solutions.

Homework 8: Due Nov 15th at the beginning of class. Solutions.

Homework 9: Due Dec 6th at the beginning of class. Solutions.

Data from Fig 19.22
Data from Fig 19.27
Data from Fig 19.28

Equation sheet for the final exam