Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface and outline
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Statistical mechanics: A modern review
- 3 The complexity of minimalistic lattice models for protein folding
- 4 Monte Carlo and chain growth methods for molecular simulations
- 5 First insights to freezing and collapse of flexible polymers
- 6 Crystallization of elastic polymers
- 7 Structural phases of semiflexible polymers
- 8 Generic tertiary folding properties of proteins on mesoscopic scales
- 9 Protein folding channels and kinetics of two-state folding
- 10 Inducing generic secondary structures by constraints
- 11 Statistical analyses of aggregation processes
- 12 Hierarchical nature of phase transitions
- 13 Adsorption of polymers at solid substrates
- 14 Hybrid protein–substrate interfaces
- 15 Concluding remarks and outlook
- References
- Index
15 - Concluding remarks and outlook
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 May 2014
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- Preface and outline
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Statistical mechanics: A modern review
- 3 The complexity of minimalistic lattice models for protein folding
- 4 Monte Carlo and chain growth methods for molecular simulations
- 5 First insights to freezing and collapse of flexible polymers
- 6 Crystallization of elastic polymers
- 7 Structural phases of semiflexible polymers
- 8 Generic tertiary folding properties of proteins on mesoscopic scales
- 9 Protein folding channels and kinetics of two-state folding
- 10 Inducing generic secondary structures by constraints
- 11 Statistical analyses of aggregation processes
- 12 Hierarchical nature of phase transitions
- 13 Adsorption of polymers at solid substrates
- 14 Hybrid protein–substrate interfaces
- 15 Concluding remarks and outlook
- References
- Index
Summary
Biomolecular research has so many facets that it is impossible to cover all important aspects of this highly interdisciplinary field in a single book. However, by definition, generic physics-based approaches have the potential to introduce concepts and tools that enable systematic and consistent investigations of complex systems, even in cases where these systems (cell systems, individual cells, molecular composites, biomolecules, solvent molecules, etc.) do not seem to possess any similarities. The physical concepts are based on quantum and classical theories, intertwined by the basic theory of complexity under the influence of thermodynamic effects: statistical mechanics. All biological, biochemical, and biophysical processes are caused by the interaction of basic units such as atoms, chemical groups, molecules. None of those processes can be thought of as being disconnected from cooperative ordering (or disordering) effects, and for our understanding of these effects on nanoscopic to mesoscopic scales only the basic theory of statistical physics is available to unravel the macroscopic consequences of these processes. The macroscopic description is what we call thermodynamics.
The currently most successful theoretical tool to investigate and to analyze thermal fluctuations statistically is the computer simulation. The computer has not replaced the human brain, but it has changed the way we deal with complex problems.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2014