Each of us has a genome of about 3 billion DNA nucleotides — a sequence of 3 billion As, Cs, Gs, and Ts. Knowing what this sequence is, whether our own sequence or that of a bacterium, a barley plant, a baboon, or anything else, tells us about the repertoire of tools its genome encodes, … Continue reading How did we make reading genomes a million times cheaper? — What is biophysics? #18
Viruses encode their genomes in RNA or DNA, which they pack into a tiny space. For example, Varicella zoster, the virus that causes chickenpox and shingles, stuffs a double-stranded DNA molecule about 40,000 nm in length into a shell about 200 nm in diameter. This is even more impressive than it may seem because DNA … Continue reading Can viruses explode? — What is biophysics? #16
Your genome is the totality of your genetic instructions, embodied in your DNA, of which each cell carries a copy. (Two copies, but let’s ignore that.) How big is your genome? Often, the answer is given in terms of base pairs — the rungs of the ladder of double-stranded DNA. For humans, it’s 3 billion … Continue reading How Big Is Your Genome? — What is biophysics? #10
I wrote this essay for the Princeton University Press “Ideas” site as a stand-alone piece connected to my new pop-science biophysics book. It appeared yesterday, and I’m posting it here as well (with permission). DNA is stuff: physical, tangible, material. We all know this; we can even picture in our minds its famous double helical … Continue reading The Physicality of Life
An introduction to the series: It’s easy to write that biophysics is the intersection of biology and physics, but this is a minimal and cryptic description. We could elaborate, and describe biophysics as the study of how living things use physical forces to shape themselves, how we can harness physical processes for technological ends, and … Continue reading How can you push DNA through Jello? (What is biophysics? #1)
The Eighteenth Elephant 