“The Biological Frontier of Physics” is an article from the magazine Physics Today. Rob Phillips and Stephen R. Quake are authors of the article. They present some problems at the interface between biology and physics. As a student who majors in physics, it is interesting to get different points of view from the biological branch of science.
In biology, DNA and RNA make molecular machines that form the basis of human’s life. DNA stores genetic information and RNA is used to translate the genetic information to make proteins. On the other hand, proteins are used to control gene expression from DNA. Therefore, the relationship between proteins and genes is not directly linear. In physics, quantum mechanics deals with physical phenomena at microscopic scales. Proteins as molecules are polymers and so we can neglect quantum mechanics when we study them. In other words, proteins can be treated as classical objects and quantum mechanics is not needed to describe their behavior. This results in a struggle conflict, and it is one of the problems at the interface between physics and biology.
Unlike thermodynamics is equilibrium with irreversible processes. Biological systems are systems that are not at equilibrium. Because of this, it is hard to apply physical models to biological systems. It is a real challenge for physicists to figure out the solution to this problem. This is because in physics, nonequilibrium systems are only talked about or studies are only done on systems that are close to equilibrium. Biological systems give physicists an opportunity to learn much more about systems that are far from equilibrium. It will probably be hard to study them from a physics point of view because many physics principles are based on rules that are not true in living cells. For example, cells are not dilute or homogenous inside but physics rules are based on those conditions. This issue really caught my attention. I would like to know if it is an exception in this case or if there may be a method to link biological dynamics with equilibrium physics. If scientists can connect them together, a lot of progress would be made in this field.
This article introduces some problems between biology and physics. An interesting problem is that proteins as molecules can neglect quantum mechanics, which I never thought about in the past. Another problem is that biological systems are not in equilibrium, which is waiting for a solution. It was a good opportunity to gain very useful information. I believe that problems at the interface between biology and physics can be solved in the near future.
In biology, DNA and RNA make molecular machines that form the basis of human’s life. DNA stores genetic information and RNA is used to translate the genetic information to make proteins. On the other hand, proteins are used to control gene expression from DNA. Therefore, the relationship between proteins and genes is not directly linear. In physics, quantum mechanics deals with physical phenomena at microscopic scales. Proteins as molecules are polymers and so we can neglect quantum mechanics when we study them. In other words, proteins can be treated as classical objects and quantum mechanics is not needed to describe their behavior. This results in a struggle conflict, and it is one of the problems at the interface between physics and biology.
Unlike thermodynamics is equilibrium with irreversible processes. Biological systems are systems that are not at equilibrium. Because of this, it is hard to apply physical models to biological systems. It is a real challenge for physicists to figure out the solution to this problem. This is because in physics, nonequilibrium systems are only talked about or studies are only done on systems that are close to equilibrium. Biological systems give physicists an opportunity to learn much more about systems that are far from equilibrium. It will probably be hard to study them from a physics point of view because many physics principles are based on rules that are not true in living cells. For example, cells are not dilute or homogenous inside but physics rules are based on those conditions. This issue really caught my attention. I would like to know if it is an exception in this case or if there may be a method to link biological dynamics with equilibrium physics. If scientists can connect them together, a lot of progress would be made in this field.
This article introduces some problems between biology and physics. An interesting problem is that proteins as molecules can neglect quantum mechanics, which I never thought about in the past. Another problem is that biological systems are not in equilibrium, which is waiting for a solution. It was a good opportunity to gain very useful information. I believe that problems at the interface between biology and physics can be solved in the near future.
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