Life, Hoffman argues, emerges from the random motions of atoms filtered through the sophisticated structures of our evolved machinery. People are essentially giant assemblies of interacting nanoscale machines.

The concept of molecular machines in biology has transformed the medical field in a profound way. Many essential processes that occur in the cell, including transcription, translation, protein folding and protein degradation, are all carried out by molecular machines. This volume focuses on important molecular machines whose architecture is known and whose functional principles have been established by tools of biophysical imaging (X-ray crystallography and cryo-electron microscopy) and fluorescence probing (single-molecule FRET). This edited volume includes contributions from prominent scientists and researchers who understand and have explored the structure and functions of these machines. This book is essential for students and professionals in the medical field who want to learn more about molecular machines.

Ch. 1. Molecular behavior in biological cells : the bacterial cytoplasm as a model system / Adrian H. Elcock and Andrew S. Thomas -- ch. 2. The light-harvesting apparatus in purple photosynthetic bacteria : introduction to a quantum biological device / Johan Strumpfer [und weitere] -- ch. 3. DNA polymerases : structure, function, and modeling / Tamar Schlick -- ch. 4. Information processing by nanomachines : decoding by the ribosome / Karissa Y. Sanbonmatsu, Scott C. Blanchard and Paul C. Whitford -- ch. 5. Chaperonins : the machines which fold proteins / Del Lucent, Martin C Stumpe and Vijay S Pande -- ch. 6. Muscle and myosin / Ronald S. Rock -- ch. 7. Protein kinases : phosphorylation machines / Elaine E. Thompson, Susan S. Taylor and J. Andrew McCammon -- ch. 8. Computational studies of Na+/H+ antiporter : structure, dynamics and function / Assaf Ganoth, Raphael Alhadeff and Isaiah T. Arkin -- ch. 9. Membrane transporters : molecular machines coupling cellular energy to vectorial transport across the membrane / Zhijian Huang [und weitere] -- ch. 10. ABC transporters / E.P. Coll and D.P. Tieleman -- ch. 11. Sodium-coupled secondary transporters : insights from structure-based computations / Elia Zomot [und weitere] -- ch. 12. Voltage-gated ion channels : the machines responsible for the nerve impulse / Benoit Roux and Francisco Bezanilla -- ch. 13. Voltage-gated channels and the heart / Jonathan R. Silva and Yoram Rudy

Today's science tells us that our bodies are filled with molecular machinery that orchestrates all sorts of life processes. When we think, microscopic "channels" open and close in our brain cell membranes; when we run, tiny "motors" spin in our muscle cell membranes; and when we see, light operates "molecular switches" in our eyes and nerves. A molecular-mechanical vision of life has become commonplace in both the halls of philosophy and the offices of drug companies, where researchers are developing “proton pump inhibitors” or medicines similar to Prozac. Membranes to Molecular Machines explores just how late twentieth-century science came to think of our cells and bodies this way. This story is told through the lens of membrane research, an unwritten history at the crossroads of molecular biology, biochemistry, physiology, and the neurosciences, that directly feeds into today's synthetic biology as well as nano- and biotechnology. Mathias Grote shows how these sciences not only have made us think differently about life, they have, by reworking what membranes and proteins represent in laboratories, allowed us to manipulate life as "active matter" in new ways. Covering the science of biological membranes in the United States and Europe from the mid-1960s to the 1990s, this book connects that history to contemporary work with optogenetics, a method for stimulating individual neurons using light, and will enlighten and provoke anyone interested in the intersection of chemical research and the life sciences—from practitioner to historian to philosopher. The research described in the book and its central actor, Dieter Oesterhelt, were honored with the 2021 Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award for his contribution to the development of optogenetics.

This book will contain a series of solicited chapters that concern with the molecular machines required by viruses to perform various essential functions of virus life cycle. The first three chapters (Introduction, Molecular Machines and Virus Architecture) introduce the reader to the best known molecular machines and to the structure of viruses. The remainder of the book will examine in detail various stages of the viral life cycle. Beginning with the viral entry into a host cell, the book takes the reader through replication of the genome, synthesis and assembly of viral structural components, genome packaging and maturation into an infectious virion. Each chapter will describe the components of the respective machine in molecular or atomic detail, genetic and biochemical analyses, and mechanism. Topics are carefully selected so that the reader is exposed to systems where there is a substantial infusion of new knowledge in recent years, which greatly elevated the fundamental mechanistic understanding of the respective molecular machine. The authors will be encouraged to simplify the detailed knowledge to basic concepts, include provocative new ideas, as well as design colorful graphics, thus making the cutting-edge information accessible to broad audience.

The miniaturization of bulky devices and machines is a process that confronts us on a daily basis. However, nanoscale machines with varied and novel characteristics may also result from the enlargement of extremely small building blocks, namely individual molecules. This bottom-up approach to nanotechnology is already being pursued in information technology, with many other branches about to follow. - Written by a team of experienced authors headed by Vincenzo Balzani, one of the pioneers in the development of molecular machines - Covers such diverse aspects as sensors, memory components, solar energy conversion, biomolecules as molecular machines, and much more - Presented in a lucid style and didactically structured, with both the expert and the newcomer in mind - Includes a glossary of terms and numerous references to the recent literature Be among the first to explore the fascinating possibilities of this future-oriented technology! A must-have for every chemist and materials scientist with an interest in nanotechnology.

This series presents critical reviews of the present position and future trends in modern chemical research. It consists of short and concise reports on chemistry, each written by the world’s renowned experts, and still valid and useful after 5 or 10 years.