This practical manual gives the reader a toolbox for working with giant vesicles, including expert tips on preparation, measurement, and characterization methods. The contents build from a simple model to advanced membrane and cell system models. It also includes fundamentals for understanding vesicle structure, properties and behavior.

Giant vesicles are widely used as a model membrane system, both for basic biological systems and for their promising applications in the development of smart materials and cell mimetics, as well as in driving new technologies in synthetic biology and for the cosmetics and pharmaceutical industry. The reader is guided to use giant vesicles, from the formation of simple membrane platforms to advanced membrane and cell system models. It also includes fundamentals for understanding lipid or polymer membrane structure, properties and behavior. Every chapter includes ideas for further applications and discussions on the implications of the observed phenomena towards understanding membrane-related processes. The Giant Vesicle Book is meant to be a road companion, a trusted guide for those making their first steps in this field as well as a source of information required by experts. Key Features • A complete summary of the field, covering fundamental concepts, practical methods, core theory, and the most promising applications • A start-up package of theoretical and experimental information for newcomers in the field • Extensive protocols for establishing the required preparations and assays • Tips and instructions for carefully performing and interpreting measurements with giant vesicles or for observing them, including pitfalls • Approaches developed for investigating giant vesicles as well as brief overviews of previous studies implementing the described techniques • Handy tables with data and structures for ready reference

Giant vesicles are widely used as a model membrane system, both for basic biological systems and for their promising applications in the development of smart materials and cell mimetics, as well as in driving new technologies in synthetic biology and for the cosmetics and pharmaceutical industry. The reader is guided to use giant vesicles, from the formation of simple membrane platforms to advanced membrane and cell system models. It also includes fundamentals for understanding lipid or polymer membrane structure, properties and behavior. Every chapter includes ideas for further applications and discussions on the implications of the observed phenomena towards understanding membrane-related processes. The Giant Vesicle Book is meant to be a road companion, a trusted guide for those making their first steps in this field as well as a source of information required by experts. Key Features • A complete summary of the field, covering fundamental concepts, practical methods, core theory, and the most promising applications • A start-up package of theoretical and experimental information for newcomers in the field • Extensive protocols for establishing the required preparations and assays • Tips and instructions for carefully performing and interpreting measurements with giant vesicles or for observing them, including pitfalls • Approaches developed for investigating giant vesicles as well as brief overviews of previous studies implementing the described techniques • Handy tables with data and structures for ready reference

?? Giant molecules are important in our everyday life. But, as pointed out by the authors, they are also associated with a culture. What Bach did with the harpsichord, Kuhn and Flory did with polymers. We owe a lot of thanks to those who now make this music accessible ??Pierre-Gilles de GennesNobel Prize laureate in Physics(Foreword for the 1st Edition, March 1996)This book describes the basic facts, concepts and ideas of polymer physics in simple, yet scientifically accurate, terms. In both scientific and historic contexts, the book shows how the subject of polymers is fascinating, as it is behind most of the wonders of living cell machinery as well as most of the newly developed materials. No mathematics is used in the book beyond modest high school algebra and a bit of freshman calculus, yet very sophisticated concepts are introduced and explained, ranging from scaling and reptations to protein folding and evolution. The new edition includes an extended section on polymer preparation methods, discusses knots formed by molecular filaments, and presents new and updated materials on such contemporary topics as single molecule experiments with DNA or polymer properties of proteins and their roles in biological evolution.

This book mainly focuses on key aspects of biomembranes that have emerged over the past 15 years. It covers static and dynamic descriptions, as well as modeling for membrane organization and shape at the local and global (at the cell level) scale. It also discusses several new developments in non-equilibrium aspects that have not yet been covered elsewhere. Biological membranes are the seat of interactions between cells and the rest of the world, and internally, they are at the core of complex dynamic reorganizations and chemical reactions. Despite the long tradition of membrane research in biophysics, the physics of cell membranes as well as of biomimetic or synthetic membranes is a rapidly developing field. Though successful books have already been published on this topic over the past decades, none include the most recent advances. Additionally, in this domain, the traditional distinction between biological and physical approaches tends to blur. This book gathers the most recent advances in this area, and will benefit biologists and physicists alike.

Exciting new theories in neuroscience, psychology, and artificial intelligence are revealing minds like ours as predictive minds, forever trying to guess the incoming streams of sensory stimulation before they arrive. In this up-to-the-minute treatment, philosopher and cognitive scientist Andy Clark explores new ways of thinking about perception, action, and the embodied mind.

An overview of recent experimental and theoretical developments in the field of the physics of membranes, including new insights from the past decade. The author uses classical thermal physics and physical chemistry to explain our current understanding of the membrane. He looks at domain and 'raft' formation, and discusses it in the context of thermal fluctuations that express themselves in heat capacity and elastic constants. Further topics are lipid-protein interactions, protein binding, and the effect of sterols and anesthetics. Many seemingly unrelated properties of membranes are shown to be intimately intertwined, leading for instance to a coupling between membrane state, domain formation and vesicular shape. This also applies to non-equilibrium phenomena like the propagation of density pulses during nerve activity. Also included is a discussion of the application of computer simulations on membranes. For both students and researchers of biophysics, biochemistry, physical chemistry, and soft matter physics.