Computer simulations of lipids

生物分子，如蛋白质、DNA、脂类和碳水化合物，存在于微观宇宙中，时间和长度尺度比我们测量长度和时间的米和秒小6-12个数量级。它们在纳秒的时间尺度上快速移动，并与只有十分之几纳米大小的单个水分子相互作用。与可见光的波长相比，大多数生物分子都非常小。这意味着它们不能用普通显微镜看到，尽管有许多复杂的实验方法来测量生物分子的行为、形状和相互作用的各个方面。对于这样的实验，计算机模拟是一种互补的方法，既可以单独进行，也可以直接与无法在分子水平上解释的实验相结合。

Biomolecules, such as proteins, DNA, lipids, and carbohydrates, exist in a microscopic universe with time and length scales 6-12 orders of magnitude smaller than the meters and seconds in which we measure length and time. They move rapidly on a time scale of nanoseconds and interact with individual water molecules the size of a few tenths of a nanometer. Most biomolecules are very small compared to the wavelength of visible light. This means they cannot be seen with ordinary microscopes, although there are many sophisticated experimental methods to measure aspects of the behaviour, shape, and interactions of biomolecules. Computer modeling is a complimentary approach to such experiments, both by themselves and in direct combination with experiments that otherwise could not be interpreted at a molecular level.