Main description:

Macroscopic cellular structures and functions are generally investigated using biological and biochemical approaches. But these methods are no longer adequate when one needs to penetrate deep into the small-scale structures and understand their functions. The cell is found to hold various physical structures, molecular machines, and processes that require physical and mathematical approaches to understand and indeed manipulate them. Disorders in general cellular compartments, perturbations in single molecular structures, drug distribution therein, and target specific drug-binding, etc. are mostly physical phenomena. This book will show how biophysics has revolutionized our way of addressing the science and technology of nanoscale structures of cells, and also describes the potential for manipulating the events that occur in them.

Contents:

General Introduction and Nanoscale View of the Cell.- Cell Surface Dynamics.- Cell Surface Diffusion and Adsorption.- Nanoscale Processes Giving Rise to Ion Pores.- Molecular Machines of the Cell.- Cell Transport at Nanoscale Dimensions.- Cell Based Nanotechnology. Interactions and Energetics.- Ion Channels in Cancer.- Quantum Mechanics of the Cell: An Emerging Field.