Biophysics

The original direction in the fatherland of B. can be considered the study of ultra-weak ultraviolet glow biological. systems (mitogenetic radiation, A. G. Gurvich, 1923-48). In the 30s, G. M. Frank and S. F. Rodionov developed a physicist. the method of detecting ultra-weak glow is biological. objects. Advances in the development of methods for recording ultra-weak light fluxes using photoelectronic multipliers led in the 50s of the 20th century to the discovery of ultra-weak luminescence of a number of animals and plants, objects in the visible range of the spectrum. The connection of this glow with the recombination of free radicals was shown. Terenin and his collaborators investigated the mechanisms of elementary photophysical processes involving pigments, indicated the role of states of molecules, discovered the mechanism of energy migration in them during photochemical reactions, studied the mechanism of protein luminescence (1950-65). A. A. Krasnovsky discovered and investigated the reaction of reversible photochemistry. reduction of chlorophyll and its analogues (1949-60). These works contributed to the development of biology. photochemistry.

Research on molecular biology is closely related to biochemistry, genetics and cytology, and molecular biology.

Hence, the problem of excited states of molecules in biology occupies a place in molecular biology. systems; such molecules acquire a high chemistry. activity. The most studied excited states that occur at the primary stage of photobiological processes - photosynthesis, vision and bioluminescence.

The formation of separate areas of B. Molecular B. investigates the mechanism of biol. phenomena from the point of view of the interaction of atoms and molecules, ions and radicals. The task of this section includes the study of spaces, structure, physico-chemical. properties are biological. systems at the molecular level. This problem is closely related to biochemistry, which is especially clearly seen by the example of studying the structure of biologically important macromolecules, the elucidation of the spatial structure of which requires biophysics. It is solved by the method of X-ray diffraction analysis. The latter has been successfully used to decipher relatively simple biologics. molecules (in the 1920s in England, V. Astbury managed to partially decipher the structure of the cellulose molecule). Work on the structure of the protein was started in the 30s. Eng., scientist J. Bernal. By 1954, the researchers J. Kendrew and M. Perou found a method for calculating the spatial arrangement of atoms in a protein molecule. This allowed us to calculate the structure of myoglobin and hemoglobin, which allowed us to reveal the mechanism of the occurrence of sickle-cell anemia and to better understand the nature of the active center of the protein molecule. Work on the study of the spatial structure of proteins is carried out in the USSR at the Physics Department. MSU Faculty, Institute of Biophysics of the USSR Academy of Sciences, and other institutions. Studies of the structure of fibrillar proteins (collagen, silk fibroin) have shown the presence of a regular structure with periodically alternating groups of amino acids. Built statistically. the theory of reduplication (doubling) of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). By 1968 , the structure of approx . 200 proteins. Along with the study of the structure of individual molecules, great success has been achieved in the study of molecular complexes - ultrastructures that create functional units of the cell.

During these years, there was a gradual formation of the base for biophysics. research, new methods were developed, the technical level grew. equipment of laboratories. After the 2nd World War in the USSR and leading capitalists. countries as a result of the huge scope of research in physics and chemistry, the emergence of a powerful instrument-making industry and a sharp increase in funding for biology. research begins the rapid development of B.

After the October Revolution, favorable conditions developed for the development of B. in the USSR. In 1919, P. P. Lazarev created the Institute of Biological Physics in Moscow, where they worked on the ionic theory of excitation, the kinetics of reactions under the action of light, studied the absorption and fluorescence spectra of biological. objects, as well as the processes of primary action on the body of various external factors. Wednesday. Later, such in-you were created in other countries. In the 20s. Koltsov formulated the concept of the molecular structure of the gene and the matrix mechanism of transmission of inheritance, information and synthesis of macromolecules. In the 20-30s. a number of books were published that had a profound influence on the subsequent development of biology in the USSR: "Biosphere" by V. I. Vernadsky (1926), "Theoretical Biology" by E. S. Bauer (1935), "Physico-Chemical Foundations of Biology" by D. L. Rubinstein (1932), "Cell Organization" by N. K. Koltsov (1936), "Reaction of Living matter to External influences" by D. N. Nasonov and V. Ya. Alexandrov (1940).

In Russia, I. M. Sechenov at the end of the 19th century studied physics. regularities of dissolution of gases in the blood and biomechanics of movements. K. A. Timiryazev studied photosynthetic. the activity of individual sections of the solar spectrum in connection with the distribution of energy in it and the features of the absorption spectrum of chlorophyll (1903). A. F. Samoilov described acoustic. properties of the middle ear. P. P. Lazarev is credited with the development of the ionic theory of excitation (1916). M. N. Shaternikov used thermodynamic concepts in studies of the energy balance of organisms (1910-20). In 1905-15, the classics were performed. N. K. Koltsov's research on the role of physico-chemical factors (surface tension, concentration of hydrogen ions, cations) in the life of the cell. This stage of the prehistory of B., covering the period up to 20. 20th century, characterized by the appearance of individual works using the ideas and methods of physics and physics. chemistry in the study of movement, auditory and visual apparatus, photosynthesis, the mechanism of generation of electromotive force in nerve and muscle, the value of the ionic medium for the vital activity of cells and tissues.

The French scientist R. Descartes considered the human body as a complex machine. He has published a number of works on the study of sensory organs - bioacoustics and optics. Descartes' follower - ital. the scientist J. A. Borelli tried to explain the movement of living beings purely physical. patterns. L. Euler, Prof. St. Petersburg University, for the first time mathematically described the movement of blood through the vessels. M. V. Lomonosov put forward in 1756 one of the first hypotheses of color vision. The experiments of Ital served as a powerful impetus to the physico-chemical research of the phenomena of life. scientist L. Galvani, who proved the presence of "animal electricity". In the 2nd half of the 19th century. it. scientists G. Helmholtz and V. Wundt formulated the main. regularities of physiological acoustics and physiological optics. It. doctor J. R. Mayer, observing the oxygen saturation of hemoglobin in human blood in tropical and temperate climates, formulated the law of conservation of energy. G. Helmholtz and M. Rubner continued to study this law on living organisms. Works by him. scientists G. Helmholtz, E. Dubois-Raymond, D. Bernstein and a number of others laid the foundations of ideas about the mechanism of the occurrence of electricity. potentials in tissues and the spread of excitation along the nerve. The significance of the ionic composition and reaction of the medium in the life of cells and tissues was clarified in the works of Amer. researcher J. Loeb, German. scientists V. Nernst and R. Geber.

Separate studies of biophysics. The character can be traced back to the 17th century . During this period, attempts were made to apply the concepts created in physics and chemistry to the analysis of biology. phenomena.

However, the historically formed range of problems that B. deals with is wider. B. includes: the study of the influence of physics. factors on the body (see Vibration, Acceleration, Weightlessness); the study of the biological effect of ionizing radiation, which, due to the importance and relevance of this issue, has become the subject of radiobiology, a special science that has emerged from B. Fizich. analysis of the activity of the sensory organs, primarily the optics of the eye, analysis of the work of the organs of movement, respiration, blood circulation as physical. systems, issues of strength and elasticity of fabrics (see Biomechanics) - significant, historically established sections of B. The development of physics is also important. methods of research biological. systems - from macromolecules to the whole organism, without which it is impossible to lie. biological. research.

Modern B., according to the classification adopted by the International Union of Theoretical and Applied Biophysics (1961), includes the following main sections: molecular B., the task of which includes the study of physics. and physico-chemical. properties of macromolecules and molecular complexes that make up living organisms, as well as the nature of interaction and energy of the processes occurring in them; B. cells, studying physico-chemical. fundamentals of cell function, the relationship of the molecular structure of membranes and cellular organelles with their function, mechanical and electrical. properties, energy and thermodynamics of cellular processes; B. processes of management and regulation, k-raya is engaged in research and modeling of internal. connections of the control system in organisms, their physical. by nature, by physical research. the laws of the living at the level of the whole organism.

BIOPHYSICS, biological physics, a science that studies physics. and physico-chemical processes occurring in living organisms, as well as biological ultrastructure. systems at all levels of the organization of living matter - from the submolecular and molecular to the cell and the whole organism. The development of B. is closely connected with the intensive interpenetration of ideas, theoretical approaches and methods of modern biology, physics, chemistry and mathematics. The development of biology has shown that in order to understand and study elementary biology. phenomena require the application of concepts and methods of exact sciences. This approach is justified by the fact that everything is biological. objects are ultimately a collection of atoms and molecules and are subject to physics. and a chemist. patterns. But as a biologist. systems are self-organizing systems that have developed in the process of evolution, they have many properties that have no place in inanimate nature. Complexity is biological. systems ensure the flow of processes that are unlikely for conditions usually considered in physics. B. mainly considers integral systems, without decomposing them, if possible, into chemical ones. components. In this regard, there is a need to process the known physico-chemical. methods, creating highly specialized biophysics. methods and techniques.