Advanced Seminar - Biophysics (500-003)
Spring 2004 Wednesdays from 17:30 to 18:45 in room 5.
My e-mail address is
cahill@unm.edu.
My office is room 176, and my phone number is 277-5318.
My office hours are by appointment.
But in fact whenever you see me, I am available
for questions about this course.
This course will introduce students of physics
to the more important facts, methods, and ideas
of molecular biology and biophysics.
It will consist mainly of lectures by UNM
professors of physics, biochemistry,
biophysics, and medicine.
But the course will begin with a review
by Kevin Cahill of carbohydrates,
fats, nucleic acids, proteins, cells, viruses,
and recombinant-DNA technology.
The recommended text is
Molecular Biology of the Cell
by Bruce Alberts, Alexander Johnson, Julian Lewis,
Martin Raff, Keith Roberts, and Peter Walter
(Garland Pub; 4th edition (March 2002)
ISBN: 0815332181).
This book costs $110 at amazon.com
and 45 pounds at amazon.co.uk.
A few months ago, 45 pounds was $76;
now due to Bush's cowboy economics,
it is $83.
No prior knowledge of biology or chemistry
will be assumed.
Molecular biology and biophysics provide the
main basis
for both molecular medicine and nanotechnology.
- Notes of my first two lectures
are available as the pdf files,
pages 1 - 12 and
pages 12 - 18.
- Slides of my third and fourth lectures
are available as part of the pdf file,
Biophysics.
- Advice about healthy living
is given in the pdf file
Healthy.
Guest Lectures:
- 18 February, "Cell Membranes: Physics and Fluorescence"
by Professor James Thomas. His talk is available as the pdf file
Cell Membranes.
He also has a position open for a student.
- 25 February,
"The challenges of genes, gene expression and genomics"
by Professor Scott A. Ness,
Molecular Genetics & Microbiology, School of Medicine, UNM.
The slides of his talk are available as the pdf file
Gene Expression.
- 3 March, "MRI Imaging" by Professor Philip Heintz,
Radiology, School of Medicine, UNM.
- 10 March, "Pre-messenger RNA splicing in eukaryotes"
by Professor Stephanie Ruby,
Molecular Genetics & Microbiology, School of Medicine, UNM.
- 17 March, Spring Break.
- 24 March, "Magnetoencephalography in Epilepsy: What can it see and do?" by Professor Julia Stephen,
Radiology, School of Medicine, UNM.
The slides of her talk are available as the pdf file
MEG & Eplilepsy.
- 31 March,
"Applications of Ultrashort Laser Pulses in Biomedicine"
by Professor Wolfgang Rudolph.
The slides of his talk are available as the pdf file
Microscopy.
- 7 April at 4 pm, "Ligand-Receptor Interactions"
Professor Hugo Kubinyi, Department of
Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of Heidelberg.
- 7 April at 5:30 pm,
"NMR Imaging and Spectroscopy
in Prostate-Cancer Diagnosis"
by Professor Laurel O. Sillerud,
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, UNM School of Medicine.
- 14 April,
"Cellular clearance mechanisms for
triglyceride-rich lipoproteins"
by Professor Robert Orlando,
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, UNM School of Medicine.
- 21 April,
"Empirical potentials in biophysical simulations:
From Hooke's law to nonlinear quantum 'charge springs'"
by Dr. Steve Valone, LANL.
- 28 April,
"Electric and magnetic fields from the brain: Their
origins and importance"
by Dr. Shingo Murakami,
Neurology, UNM SoM.
- 5 May, "Mining the Chemistry-Biology Interface"
by Professor Tudor I. Oprea,
Division of Biocomputing, UNM SoM.
- 12 May is in the middle of final exams: no seminar.
But there will be seminars throughout the summer at 4:30 PM
on Wednesdays in room 5 (unless we get a better room).
- 19 May, Professor Glew, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology,
UNM SoM, will describe recent findings on the levels
and significance of trans and conjugated fatty acids
in the breast milk of Fulani women and their "food chain."
- 26 May,
"Alternative Splicing and Genomic Stability"
by Kevin Cahill, Department of Physics and Astronomy.
(4:30 PM)
- 2 June,
"Mirror Charges, Hydrogen Bonds, and the Water-Dielectric Interface"
by Kevin Cahill, Department of Physics and Astronomy.
(4:30 PM)
- 9 June, "Search for the Higgs at the Tevatron"
by Professor Michael Gold, Department of Physics and Astronomy
(4:30 PM).
- 16 June,
"Majorana Fields without Tears"
by Kevin Cahill, Department of Physics and Astronomy.
(4:30 PM)
- 23 June, no class because some students are away.
- 30 June,
"Dirac Fields without Tears"
by Kevin Cahill, Department of Physics and Astronomy.
(4:30 PM)
- 7 July, Thursday, a talk on medical imaging by Professor Duric,
presently scheduled for 2 pm in room 1131.
- 14 July, "Real-Time Functional Magnetic-Resonance Imaging:
Methods and Applications" by Professor Stefan Posse,
MIND Imaging Center, Psychiatry, SoM, and ECE.
His course
Magnetic-Resonance Imaging and Spectroscopy:
From Methods to Functional Brain Imaging
is open to you.
- 21 July, Thursday, 4:30 pm, a talk on computer networks
by our own Michael Malik.
- 29 July, Thursday,
"Monte Carlo Methods"
by Kevin Cahill, Department of Physics and Astronomy.
(4:30 PM).