The Molecules of Life: Physical Principles and Cellular Functions

The ultimate goal of molecular biology and biochemistry is to understand the processes that make life possible. The basic ideas of energy, entropy, equilibrium thermodynamics, transport processes and reaction kinetics are closely related to exciting issues in contemporary biology, such as protein folding, chaperones and prion diseases, DNA polymerase and ribosome fidelity, DNA recognition, drug design, signal transduction, ion channel function, motor protein action and the versatility of enzyme mechanism. The Molecules of Life deepens our understanding of how life functions by illuminating the physical principles underpinning biological phenomena. Key features include in-text biological examples, essential terms and concepts, end-of-chapter problems, and further reading. Suited to undergraduate students in biology, chemistry, molecular biology, biophysics, and biochemistry, The Molecules of Life prepares readers to dive right into the issues that make modern molecular biology so fascinating.