Physical Cell Biology: the Forces of Life
Physical Cell Biology explores biological phenomena through physical principles, using quantitative approaches and primary literature to understand cellular mechanisms.
Summary
What you’ll be able to do
Describe the physical properties of biomolecules including their size, shapes, weights, abundances, and how fast they are made or degraded.
Apply quantitative equations to describe and predict the production of biomolecules, observation of phenotypes, or other cellular events.
Describe how cells can interconvert different forms of energy, how energy can be converted into mechanical work, and the amounts of energy used by or produced by cells under various conditions.
Use Python programming and Colab notebooks to carry out simulations of biological processes.
Read and critically evaluate scientific manuscripts in the area of quantitative cell biology.
Source: UW Guide
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Prerequisites
Course mapBIOCHEM 501, 507, or graduate/professional standing
- BIOCHEM 501
- BIOCHEM 507
- graduate/professional standing
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Prerequisite text tree
- Any of
- BIOCHEM 501
- BIOCHEM 507
- graduate/professional standing
Professors
Spring 2027No instructors recorded for this selection.
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Student experience
the class
Investigate a wide range of phenomena found in biology with respect to the underlying physical principles involved. Study both simple examples and those from the primary research literature to learn how cells have evolved to count biomolecules, convert one form of energy to another, move from place to place, express genes, and replicate. Understand how quantitative approaches provide tools for understanding the complexities of life and appreciate its wonder.
difficulty & workload
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Topics
- Physical properties of biomolecules (size, shape, weight, abundance, turnover).
- Energy conversion and mechanical work in cells.
- Cellular processes: counting biomolecules, movement, gene expression, and replication.
Skills
- Apply physical principles to understand cellular phenomena like biomolecule counting, energy conversion, and gene expression.
- Apply quantitative equations to model and predict cellular events.
- Use Python and Colab notebooks for biological simulations.
- Critically evaluate scientific manuscripts in quantitative cell biology.
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Explore recorded gradesRecorded 2026-10-14
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Model & dataset provenance
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