About the class
It is a wonderful time to be thinking about the workings of the living world. Historic advances in molecular biology, structural biology and the use of biophysical techniques such as optical traps have provided an unprecedented window on the mechanics of the cell. The aim of this course is to study the cell and its components using whatever tools we need in order to make quantitative and predictive statements about cellular life. The main intellectual thread of the course will be the idea that the type of quantitative data which is becoming routine in biology calls for a corresponding quantitative modeling framework. The plan of this course is to elucidate general principles with exciting case studies.
General course syllabus
- A feeling for the numbers in biology
- Thinking up cells and organisms
- Signaling: How cells talk
- Regulation: How cells decide
- Cytoskeleton, Membranes and Motors: How cells move
- Evolution