Three branches of biophysics.

Medical Biophysics studies physics to describe or affect biological process for the purpose of medical application. Like many areas of study that have emerged in recent times, it relies on broad interdisciplinary knowledge between the so-called traditional

fields such as physics (i.e. medical physics, radiation physics or imaging physics) and advanced biology fields such as biochemistry, biophysics, physiology, neuroscience etc. Some important areas of research in medical biophysics include medical imaging (e.g. MRI, computed tomography, and PET), oncology and cancer diagnosis, and vasculature and circulatory system function.

Molecular biophysics is an evolving interdisciplinary area of research that combines concepts in physics, chemistry, engineering, mathematics and biology. It studies biomolecular systems and explain biological function in terms of molecular structure, structural organization, and dynamic behavior at various levels of complexity (from single molecules to supramolecular structures, viruses and small living systems). The discipline requires specialized equipment and procedures capable of imaging and manipulating minute living structures, as well as novel experimental

approaches.

Biophysical chemistry is a relatively new branch of chemistry that covers a broad spectrum of research activities involving biological systems. The most common feature of the research in this subject is to seek explanation of the various phenomena in biological systems in terms of either the molecules that make up the system or the supra-molecular structure of these systems.

Biophysical chemists employ various techniques used in physical chemistry to probe the structure of biological systems. These techniques include spectroscopic methods like nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and X-ray diffraction. Also biophysical chemists study protein structure and the functional structure of cell membranes. For example, enzyme action can be explained in terms of the shape of a pocket in the protein molecule that matches the shape of the substrate molecule or its modification due to binding of a metal ion. Similarly the structure and function of the biomembranes may be understood through the study of model supramolecular structures as liposomes or phospholipidvesicles of different compositions and sizes.

12. Circle any additional unknown words/phrases in the article. In pairs/groups, use your dictionaries to understand the meanings. Write definitions to 3 of them.