Nonequilibrium Statistical Biophysics

生物必须保持有序的结构和过程才能有效地发挥作用；生物体通过不断输入高能量食物和输出低能量废物来避免固有的无序平衡状态。有效地利用这种能量应该会提供一种进化优势。生物分子（如ATP合成酶，产生广泛使用的化学货币ATP的蛋白质）的理论非平衡分析将揭示微观能量转换的物理限制和有效生物功能的设计原则。这项工作将阐明进化压力，所获得的知识将有助于设计可持续能量收集的分子装置，有效的信息存储和操作，或靶向药物输送。

Living things must maintain orderly structures and processes to function effectively; organisms avoid the inherently disordered state of equilibrium via constant input of high-energy food and output of low-energy waste. Using such energy efficiently should provide an evolutionary advantage. Theoretical far-from-equilibrium analysis of biomolecules (like ATP synthase, the protein producing the widely-used chemical currency ATP) will uncover physical constraints on microscopic energy conversion and design principles for efficient biological function. This work will illuminate evolutionary pressures, and the knowledge gained will aid the design of molecular devices for sustainable energy harvesting, efficient information storage and manipulation, or targeted drug delivery.