Splash Biography

Computers are increasingly enhancing our understanding of biological systems. We will go over the basics of molecular simulation and see how we can use these concepts to understand the possible molecular basis for diseases like Alzheimer's and Huntington's, as well as design novel therapeutics. Our course will aim to answer 3 main questions: 1. How can we model atoms and their interactions? We will begin with a simple system of particles and see how simulations give us physically meaningful information. 2. How do we simulate protein folding and model protein structure? The small-scale interactions we build an understanding of will allow us to tackle problems in the larger realm of biology. For instance, diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's likely originate from the misfolding of otherwise normal proteins. 3. How do we design better drugs? Knowing information about protein structure and folding allows us to design drugs of better specificity and efficacy. Contributions in modeling have allowed us to gain tremendous clarity in tackling complex biological problems, and as computers become faster and smarter, the science is only going to get more exciting.