What is biophysical?

Answer 1

Simply put, radiation biophysics is the intersection of Biology and radiation physics. And it's a big intersection - with lots of traffic. Radiation physics is all about what happens to living things that are zapped with radiation. And it's a huge field because of the different types of radiation and the many, many ways it occurs naturally or is artificially generated and applied for a purpose. Let's look at a few areas of investigation and application to get a handle on radiation biophysics. We are naturally exposed to radiation from the moment we are conceived to the moment we die. The radiation comes in two "flavors" as we look at it - electromagnetic and particulate. As an example of the former, we are being bombarded by gamma rays right now. These rays are are a form of extremely high frequency electromagnetic radiation. The rays originate on the sun and in other stars, star-like objects, etc. throughout the galaxy and the universe in general. They also originate from the nuclear decay of radioactive materials around us, both naturally occurring stuff (e.g., radium) and from man-made stuff, like material from bomb tests, nuclear accidents and the like. Gamma rays are what is called ionizing radiation, and that means that as the ray passes through material (like living tissue), it breaks some of the covalent bonds of the biochemical molecules. This can destroy some chemical structures. If it turns out that the "target" is a DNA or RNA chemical structure, it can alter or kill the unit of life. There are particulate radiation sources all around us too. These sources are mostly the ones we already cited - radioactive materials in the environment that occur naturally or have been man made. The "effective range" of these particulate radiation sources is (thankfully) very short (except for neutron sources, which aren't that common). That's good because these "subatomic bullets" have tremendous energy, and they can ionize the heck out of living tissue - they can damage it big time. They can also undergo interactions with non-bio materials that release other ionizing radiation, and that radiation is bad for biologicals. Having sort of "summed up" radiation hazards, let's look at who cares about all this. Health physics is a closely associated - or actually a specialty - within the field of radiation biophysics. The health physicist focuses on the adverse affects of radiation on living things, particularly people. The nice folks in health physics are the ones who track exposure to X-rays of hospital staffers, laboratory personnel or company radiation workers and the like. They are interested in all the sources of radiation in a given setting where they have charge and all the folks who work in areas and could be exposed. They're the ones who insure dosimeters and film badges are available and worn appropriately. And they collect and process all the radiometric data related to exposures and maintain a file on everyone to maintain a history of exposure. These nice people have to monitor all the radioactive sources used in medical treatment of patients, and they work along with the physicians, and the other medical and technical staff who handle the materials. As you might guess, there is a lot of documentation associated with this activity. And all of the people associated with these activities are working in radiation biophysics. Oh, and the health physics experts are working in all the places where nuclear reactors are, and also anywhere radioactive materials are manufactured, processed and fabricated into something we wish to use. NASA and all space concerns where people are outside earth's atmosphere must have radiation biophysicists on hand to consider the effects of the extra radiation on those who go up. It's isn't as nice out there as some people think. We usually have research going on here or there where we are exposing biological material to some form of radiation. The researchers and all those who work with them in monitoring and safety are working in radiation biophysics. Bottom line is that anywhere there is an intersection of people and radiation or radioactivity, there is radiation biophysics.

Answer 2

Biophysics is an InterdisciplinarySciencethat uses the methods of Physical_scienceto study Biologysystems.Answers.comStudies included under the branches of biophysics span all Structure, from the molecular scale to whole organisms and ecosystems. Biophysical research shares significant overlap with Biochemistry, Nanotechnology, Bioengineering, Agrophysicsand Systems_biology.

Molecular biophysics typically addresses biological questions that are similar to those in Biochemistryand Molecular_biology, but the questions are approached quantitatively. Scientists in this field conduct research concerned with understanding the interactions between the various systems of a cell, including the interactions between DNA, RNA and protein biosynthesis, as well as how these interactions are regulated. A great variety of techniques are used to answer these questions.

Fluorescentimaging techniques, as well as Electron_microscopy, X-ray_crystallography, NMR_spectroscopyand Atomic_force_microscopy(AFM) are often used to visualize structures of biological significance. Conformational_changein structure can be measured using techniques such as Dual_polarisation_interferometryand Circular_dichroism. Direct manipulation of molecules using Optical_tweezersor AFM can also be used to monitor biological events where forces and distances are at the nanoscale. Molecular biophysicists often consider complex biological events as systems of interacting units which can be understood through Statistical_mechanics, Thermodynamicsand Chemical_kinetics. By drawing knowledge and experimental techniques from a wide variety of disciplines, biophysicists are often able to directly observe, model or even manipulate the structures and interactions of individual Moleculesor complexes of molecules.

In addition to traditional (i.e. molecular and cellular) biophysical topics like Structural_biologyor enzyme Chemical_kinetics, modern biophysics encompasses an extraordinarily broad range of research, from Bioelectronicsto Quantum_biology. It is becoming increasingly common for biophysicists to apply the models and experimental techniques derived from Physics, as well as Mathematicsand Statistics(see Mathematical_and_theoretical_biology), to larger systems such as tissues, organs, Population_biologyand Ecosystem.

Answer 3

Biophysics is an InterdisciplinarySciencethat uses the methods of Physical_scienceto study Biologysystems.Answers.comStudies included under the branches of biophysics span all Structure, from the molecular scale to whole organisms and ecosystems. Biophysical research shares significant overlap with Biochemistry, Nanotechnology, Bioengineering, Agrophysicsand Systems_biology.

Molecular biophysics typically addresses biological questions that are similar to those in Biochemistryand Molecular_biology, but the questions are approached quantitatively. Scientists in this field conduct research concerned with understanding the interactions between the various systems of a cell, including the interactions between DNA, RNA and protein biosynthesis, as well as how these interactions are regulated. A great variety of techniques are used to answer these questions.

Fluorescentimaging techniques, as well as Electron_microscopy, X-ray_crystallography, NMR_spectroscopyand Atomic_force_microscopy(AFM) are often used to visualize structures of biological significance. Conformational_changein structure can be measured using techniques such as Dual_polarisation_interferometryand Circular_dichroism. Direct manipulation of molecules using Optical_tweezersor AFM can also be used to monitor biological events where forces and distances are at the nanoscale. Molecular biophysicists often consider complex biological events as systems of interacting units which can be understood through Statistical_mechanics, Thermodynamicsand Chemical_kinetics. By drawing knowledge and experimental techniques from a wide variety of disciplines, biophysicists are often able to directly observe, model or even manipulate the structures and interactions of individual Moleculesor complexes of molecules.

In addition to traditional (i.e. molecular and cellular) biophysical topics like Structural_biologyor enzyme Chemical_kinetics, modern biophysics encompasses an extraordinarily broad range of research, from Bioelectronicsto Quantum_biology. It is becoming increasingly common for biophysicists to apply the models and experimental techniques derived from Physics, as well as Mathematicsand Statistics(see Mathematical_and_theoretical_biology), to larger systems such as tissues, organs, Population_biologyand Ecosystem.