- What is biophysics?
- Object of study of biophysics
- Goals of biophysics
- Branches of biophysics
- Importance of biophysics
We explain what biophysics is, its objectives, object of study and branches. Also, its importance for understanding life.
What is biophysics?
Biophysics is the discipline that deals with the study of biology from the point of view of physical (hence their joint name). This double or dual nature makes it impossible to define whether it is a branch of physics close to biology, or a branch of biology close to physics.
In any case, it combines the theoretical spirit of physics with the possibility of obtaining verifiable experimental results, something common in biology.
Biophysics is, in this sense, one of the first scientific disciplines to combine diverse approaches to Sciences elementals, which is a rising trend in the contemporary scientific world. The results obtained by this discipline are of interest for both biology and applied physics.
It is a young discipline, at least in its formal recognition, since its areas of study even predate the concept of science itself. The first proper biophysical study was in the seventeenth century, when the studies of the German Jesuit scientist Atanasio Kircher (1601-1680) on animal bioluminescence were published as part of his work "Ars Magna Lucis et Umbrae”.
Object of study of biophysics
The object of study of biophysics can be defined as the physical field of the life or the application of physics to living creatures. To a large extent, he considers his object of study from the physical perspective of classical mechanics, that is, Newtonian mechanics.
It involves the exploration of phenomena common in the world of physics, such as electricity, the light, the magnetism, among others, but linked to the world of biology: bioelectricity, bioluminescence, biomagnetism, and so on.
Goals of biophysics
Biophysics pursues a diverse set of objectives, such as:
- Understand the human body and other living beings in terms of systems physical endowed with quantifiable variables such as internal energy, entropy, etc.
- Translate into the language of physics (that is, describe in its terms) some particular phenomena of complex life, especially those that involve the energies fundamentals: electricity, magnetism, gravity, etc.
- Apply all the previous knowledge to the solution of problems specific, such as the manufacture of prostheses, the invention of treatments and new tools diagnostic, or new materials inspired by life itself.
- Put into practice a transdisciplinary approach to physics and biology, in order to transcend the limitations of a specific field using the tools and knowledge of other.
Branches of biophysics
The main areas of study of biophysics, each of which inaugurates a particular branch of interest, are the following:
- Biomechanics. It is about the study of the processes of the human body, understanding them as the application of internal and external forces to it, which allows us to think about them in terms such as energy efficiency, anatomical mechanics, etc., which in turn is useful for manufacture prostheses.
- Bioacoustics. As its name indicates, the investigation of the production of the sound in the animals, including the human being. This ranges from the behavior of waves sound, up to the neurophysiological apparatus of the ear.
- Cell motors. It is a discipline that includes the movements of living beings as a process of energy transformation (chemistry, usually) at work, thus being able to imitate them (to create nanomachines, for example).
- Protein dynamics. It is about the study of the movements and folds of the protein and other molecular constructs, according to their structures, functions or compositions, applying the laws of physics.
- Molecular communication. Essentially, it is about the exchange of information at the cellular level, both between cells of the same organism, as between single-celled organisms, using systemic principles that can well be understood from a physical point of view.
Importance of biophysics
What is most interesting about the biophysics perspective is that it rethinks or rethinks the boundaries between the world of matter (inorganic) and the world of life (organic), since both are affected by the same fundamental forces of physics. In this way, it provides a more elemental understanding of what life is and what distinguishes living things from the inanimate matter that surrounds them.
On the other hand, biophysics allows to approach biological problems from a different perspective, which takes advantage of the elements of physics, such as the application of electromagnetic rays in the examination of cells, or nuclear magnetic resonances to study the tissues of the organisms no need to damage or break them.