Forces, Growth and Form in Soft Condensed Matter: At the Interface between Physics and Biology (NATO Science Series II: Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry)

the Book Reviews The Current Experimental And Theoretical Knowledge Of The Synergism Between Modern Physics, Soft Condensed Matter And Biology, Presenting A Thorough Discussion Of The Relative Role Of The Various Fundamental Interactions In Such Systems: Electrostatic, Hydrophobic, Steric, Conformational, Van Der Waals, Etc. These Competing Interactions Influence The Form And Topology Of Soft And Biological Matter, Like Polymers And Proteins, Leading To Hierarchical Structures In Self-assembling Systems And Folding Patterns Sometimes Described In Terms Of Chirality, Braids And Knots. Finally, The Competing Interactions Influence Various Bioprocesses Like Genetic Regulation And Biological Evolution Taking Place In Systems Like Biopolymers, Macromolecules And Cell Membranes. the Authors Include Theoretical Physicists, Soft Condensed Matter Experimentalists, Biological Physicists, And Molecular Biologists - All Leaders In Their Respective Fields. Aside From The Need To Gain New, Fundamental Insights, The Subject Area Is Also Of Great Importance For Many Applications, In That Self-assembly And Hierarchical Assembly Are Important Features To Achieve Functionality On Multiple Length Scales. Applications Range From The Nanoscopic (e.g., Biomolecular Material And Copolymeric Mesophases) To The Microscopic (all Organic Microelectronics) To The Macroscopic (high-performance Structural Composites). This volume comprises the proceedings of a NATO Advanced Study Institute held at Geilo, Norway, 24 March - 3 April 2003, the seventeenth ASI in a series held every two years since 1971. The objective of this ASI was to identify and discuss areas where synergism between modern physics, soft condensed matter and biology might be most fruitful. The main pedagogical approach was to have lecturers focussing on basic understanding of important aspects of the relative role of the various interaction- electrostatic, hydrophobic, steric, conformational, van der Waals etc. Soft condensed matter and the connection between physics and biology have been the themes of several earlier Geilo Schools. A return to these subjects thus allowed a fresh look and a possibility for defining new directions for research. Examples of soft materials, which were discussed at this ASI, included colloidal dispersions, gels, biopolymers and charged polymer solutions, polyelectrolytes, protein/membrane complexes, nucleic acids and their complexes. Indeed, most forms of condensed matter are soft and these substances are composed of aggregates and macromolecules, with interactions that are too weak and complex to form crystals spontaneously. A characteristic feature is that small external forces, slight perturbations in temperature, pressure or concentration, can all be enough to induce significant structural changes. Thermal fluctuations are almost by definition strong in soft materials and entropy is a predominant determinant of structure, so that disorder, slow dynamics and plastic deformation are the rule. Hence the phrase 'soft condensed matter' has been coined Preliminaries......Page 1 CONTENTS......Page 6 Preface......Page 8 Organizing committee and participants......Page 10 The physico-chemical basis of self-assembling structures......Page 20 Supramolecular assembly of biological molecules......Page 48 Simple examples of cell motility......Page 70 Statistical physics of unzipping DNA......Page 84 Can theory predict two-state protein folding rates? An experimental perspective......Page 112 Copolymers with long-range correlations: Sequence design near a surface......Page 132 Novel approach to the study of rotational and translational diffusion in crystals......Page 154 The bacterial flagellar motor......Page 164 Self-assembly and dynamics of magnetic holes......Page 184 Structures in molecular networks......Page 200 Oscillating gene expressions in regulatory networks......Page 214 Transport properties of segmented polymers and non-spherical nanoparticles studied by Brownian dynamics simulations......Page 222 Cytokinesis......Page 236 Information dynamics in living systems......Page 254 Index......Page 262 The association of molecules into an aggregate is not entropically favorable and only occurs when it is energetically favored.