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Gene expression; DNA; single molecule physics; genetic networks; optical tweezers; single molecule detection

In this paper we present a qualitative outlook of mesoscopic biology where the typical length scale is of the order of nanometers and the energy scales comparable to thermal energy. Novel biomolecular machines, governed by coded information at the level of DNA and proteins, operate at these length scales in biological systems. In recent years advances in technology have led to the study of some of the design principles of these machines; in particular at the level of an individual molecule. For example, the forces that operate in molecular interactions, the stochasticity involved in these interactions and their spatio-temporal dynamics are beginning to be explored. Understanding such design principles is opening new possibilities in mesoscopic physics with potential applications.

G V Shivashankar¹

1. National Center for Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, UAS-GKVK Campus, Bangalore - 560 065, India

Published

February 2002