Brief Description
This book covers research themes and strategies in molecular biophysics. It explains the goals of biophysical research as well as details investigative tools, the relevance of biological research to other fields, and future opportunities in the field.
Learn More about the Book
This volume provides an overview of the development and scope of molecular biophysics and in-depth discussions of the major experimental methods that enable biological macromolecules to be studied at atomic resolution. It also reviews the physical chemical concepts that are needed to interpret the experimental results and to understand how the structure, dynamics, and physical properties of biological macromolecules enable them to perform their biological functions. Reviews of research on three disparate biomolecular machines-DNA helicases, ATP synthases, and myosin--illustrate how the combination of theory and experiment leads to new insights and new questions.
On the Back Cover
This volume of the series Biophysics for the Life Sciences focuses on the conceptual framework and major research tools of contemporary molecular biophysics. It is designed to enable non-specialists both students and professionals in other fields to understand how these approaches can be used across the biosciences and in medicine, agriculture, biotechnology, pharmaceutical development and other fields. The scope of this volume is appropriate for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses in biophysics and biophysical chemistry.
The book begins with an overview of the development of molecular biophysics and a brief survey of structural, physical, and chemical principles. Subsequent chapters written by experts present, with examples, the major experimental methods: optical spectroscopy, X-ray and neutron diffraction and scattering, nuclear magnetic resonance, electron paramagnetic resonance, mass spectrometry, and single molecule methods. The relationship between the biophysical properties of biological macromolecules and their roles as molecular machines is emphasized throughout and illustrated with three examples DNA helicases, rotary motor ATPases, and myosin. The concluding chapter discusses future prospects in X-ray and neutron scattering, mass spectrometry, and pharmaceutical development.
Dr. Norma M. Allewell is Professor of Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics and Affiliate Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Maryland, where she served as Dean of the College of Chemical and Life Sciences for a decade. Her research focuses on protein structure, function and dynamics, and metabolic regulatory mechanisms and diseases.
Dr. Linda Narhi is a Scientific Executive Director in the Product Attribute Science Group at Amgen, where her responsibilities include solution stability assessment of all protein-based therapeutic candidates, and developing and implementing predictive assays for protein stability to process, storage, and delivery conditions.
Dr. Ivan Rayment is Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he holds the Michael G. Rossmann Professorship in Biochemistry. He has a wide range of interests in structural biology and has made seminal contributions to our understanding of the structural basis of motility, enzyme evolution, cobalamin biosynthesis, and transposition.
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Review Quotes
1.
From the reviews: This valuable work describes the major methods used for characterizing biological macromolecules. The book is very readable and well organized, with 12 succinct chapters. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. (J. A. Kelly, Choice, Vol. 51 (10), June, 2014)"
2.
From the reviews:
This valuable work describes the major methods used for characterizing biological macromolecules. The book is very readable and well organized, with 12 succinct chapters. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. (J. A. Kelly, Choice, Vol. 51 (10), June, 2014)"
