Statistical Physics in Biology

Lecture Notes

Instructors

MK: Prof. Mehran Kardar
LM: Prof. Leonid Mirny

SES #	TOPICS	INSTRUCTORS
1	Introduction; Master equation	MK
2	Elements of population genetics	LM
3	Evolving populations (forward Kolmogorov)	MK
4	Population genetics (fitness, selection, …)	LM
5	Fixation (backward Kolmogorov)	MK
6	Introduction to sequence alignment	LM
7	Algorithms for sequence alignment	LM
8	Significance of aligments (extreme value distributions)	MK
9	Ionic interactions	MK
10	Polymer theory 1, entropy elasticity, collapse	MK
11	Polymer theory 2, collapse, Random energy model	MK
12	Protein folding 1: elements of structure and forces	LM
13	Protein folding 2: evolved (designed) foldable proteins	LM
14	Protein folding 3: kinetics	LM
15	Protein folding 4: kinetics	LM
16	DNA (melting)	MK
17	RNA (secondary structure)	MK
18	Protein-DNA interactions 1: specific and non-specific binding	LM
19	Protein-DNA interactions 2: sequence-dependence & kinetics	LM
20	Microtubules	MK
21	Molecular motors & cell motility	MK
22	Introduction to networks	MK
23	Dynamics on networks 1	MK
24	Dynamics on networks 2	LM
25	Packing of DNA inside cells	LM
26	Cooperativity: hemoglobin and transcription factors	LM