Gordon Research Conference — Stochastic Physics in Biology

At the most fundamental level, physical and chemical laws govern the operations of a living cell. For example, the energetics of a biochemical reaction obey the law of thermodynamics, and the kinetics the law of mass action. At the functional level, however, when, where and at what rate a biomolecule executes its function through its binding to a partner or enzymatic catalysis is stochastic, and can only be described in probabilistic instead of deterministic terms. At this level, the integration between experiments and theories becomes extremely important, because new theories need to be developed to explain stochastic experimental observations and guide further experimental explorations, and experiments need to be conducted to test theoretical predications and establish biological significance.

Topics: Bridging Stochastic Physical Theories with Biological Experiments