The application of methodological approaches and mathematical formalisms
proper to Physics and Engineering to investigate and describe biological
processes and design biological structures has led to the development of
many disciplines in the context of computational biology and
biotechnology. The best known applicative domain is tissue engineering
and its branches. Recent domains of interest are in the field of
biophysics, e.g.: multiscale mechanics of biological membranes and films
and filaments; multiscale mechanics of adhesion; biomolecular motors and
force generation.
Modern hypotheses, models, and tools are currently emerging and
resulting from the convergence of the methods and phylosophycal
apporaches of the different research areas and disciplines. All these
emerging approaches share the purpose of disentangling the complexity of
organisms, tissues, and cells and mimiking the function of living
systems.
The contributions presented in this book are current research highlights
of six challenging and representative applicative domains of phyisical,
engineering, and computational approaches in medicine and biology, i.e
tissue engineering, modelling of molecular structures, cell mechanics
and cell adhesión processes, cancer physics, and physico-chemical
processes of metabolic interactions. Each chapter presents a compendium
or a review of the original results achieved by authors in the last
years. Furthermore, the book also wants to pinpoint the questions that
are still open and that could propel the future research.
