The purpose of this course is to provide physical scientists and engineers with an exposure to the terminology, concepts and mechanisms of biology at the nanometer scale. Since a nanometer is ten angstroms, nanobiology deals with molecules, macromolecules, macromolecular complexes and membranes. This means that the subjects covered in this course correspond to those also covered in courses on biochemistry, molecular biology and sub-cellular biology. However, this course is not a substitute for such courses. It is expected that the student will select some textbooks for these other courses as references for a more detailed account at the biochemical and biological level of description. The purpose of the present course is to emphasize applicable physical concepts and to bring the perspective of a physicist to the subject. Nanobiological mechanisms provide many lessons for the rapidly emerging field of nanotechnology. It is a goal of this course to bring these to the attention of physical scientists and engineers.

Lecture notes will be provided. Very little prior knowledge of the subject is presupposed. However, a rudimentary understanding of elementary chemistry is assumed.