Calculating the secrets of life – mathematics in molecular biology

Eric S. Lander, Michael S. Waterman0309048869, 9780309048866, 9780585037233

In this first-ever survey of the partnership between mathematics and biology, leading experts look at how mathematical research and methods have made possible important discoveries in biology. Explores how differential geometry, topology, and differential mechanics have allowed researchers to “wind” and “unwind” DNA’s double helix to understand the phenomenon of supercoiling. Explains how mathematical tools are revealing the workings of enzymes and proteins. Describes how mathematicians are detecting echoes from the origin of life by applying the stochastic and statictical theory to the study of DNA sequences.