PHYS 42300

CCNY Course Description

Alex Payne (alex.payne.teaching@gmail.com), Adjunct Assistant Professor, he/him/his

Section S, 20179 Tuesdays & Thursdays 5:00-6:15 pm EST/EDT
Office hours: After class until 7pm.

Course Description

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An introduction to protein structure and molecular interactions needed for analysis of individual proteins with a focus on proteins that highlight important biophysical properties. Project-based course emphasizing reading and interpretation of the original literature. The groups of protein chosen can be biological machines, including ribosomes and protein synthesis; actin/myosin and muscle motion; kinesin/dynesin, transport, and cellular motion and deformation; and bacterial flagellar action. Alternatively the class can study processes based on transmembrane potential gradients including respiration, photosynthesis and chemiosmotic energy coupling as well as nerve function.

Course Learning Outcomes

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• Learn how many different biological processes are driven by biophysical machines
• Understand how form follows function in the evolution of proteins
• Derive several equations used in biophysics that come from the Boltzmann equation
• Explain how the function of most proteins depends on their ability to sample different energetic states
• Use resources like Uniprot and the Protein Data Bank to learn more about proteins
• Produce a well-research scientific review of what a particular protein does and why it is important for life
• Communicate complex scientific topics to a class in the form of a presentation
• Recognize and use terms common to biophysics

Open Education Statement

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All notes of this class will be published in on this website under Creative Commons CC0 License. Should you wish to improve the course materials, submit issues or pull requests to this GitHub repo. This is a ZERO Textbook Cost course. Links to all mateirals will be accesible on this GitHub repo and website.

Grading

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Key Dates

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