Biomolecules are complex and heterogeneous, being the outcome of aeons of evolution. Evolution appears to be opportunistic and to take advantage of many happenstance events,. At the same time selection is not perfect and biomolecules retain many features that are characteristic of molecules with random sequence of similar composition,. By merging these two views a powerful framework for understanding the thermodynamics, and dynamics and function of biomolecules over the last decade has emerged,. The first key problem in biomolecular science is to understand how a protein molecule can self-organize into a shape capable of specificity in chemistry and in its interaction with partners. It is this protein folding problem that is the main subject of these lectures.
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