McGill.CA / Science / Department of Physics

2012 CAP Lecture

Efficiency in the Cell: How Cells Make Proteins Rapidly While Working to a Budget

Paul Higgs

McMaster University

A biophysicist might view a cell as a factory that makes macromolecules. Like all factories, a cell requires energy to work, and energy comes at a cost. Cells that make efficient use of their resources grow and divide faster. Processes that are costly to the cell will be under natural selection, and should evolve towards increased efficiency. This talk will be an example of how those with a background in physics can build quantitative models that help in understanding important questions in biology and molecular evolution.

This seminar is oriented mainly towards undergraduate audience. It will be followed by a meeting with Prof. Higgs for the undergraduate students beginning at 12:00

This talk is sponsored by the Canadian Association of Physicists

Wednesday, April 4th 2012, 11:00
Ernest Rutherford Physics Building, R.E. Bell Conference Room (room 103)