Date

Topic

Discussion

Week1

Molecules of life

Proteins, lipids, sugars, nucleic acids, water

Cell By the Numbers

How Big, How Many, How Strong, and How fast

Week 2

Energy and the Life of Cells

Forces, energy, entropy, equilibria

Week 3

Biological membranes

Membrane assembly, chemical composition, mechanics, dynamics,

Week 3

cytoskeleton

Tubules, filaments, scaffolds

Week 4

Physical Dynamics

diffusion two- and three dimensions

Week 4

Dynamics in crowded media

Macromoelcular crowding: depletion forces, complex dynamics

Week 5 (2 sessions)

Phase Separation

Liquid-liquid phase separation, membraneless organelles, granules

Week 6 (2 sessions)

Molecular Motors

Rotary, translational, and polymerization motors

Week 7 (2 sessions)

Channels

Pumps, channels, and membrane permeability

Week 8 (2 sessions)

Patterns in Biology

Reaction-diffusion systems

Week 9

Biofilms

Bacterial colonies, multicellular collectives

Week 9

Building a Cell

Rotary, translational, and polymerization motors

Week 10

Presentations

Final project presentations