Computational Biophysics and Systems Biology

Overview

Charge domesThe faculty in this area integrate physical principles, mathematical modeling, and experimental approaches to understand biological systems from molecules to organisms. Research spans molecular simulations of protein dynamics and biomolecular interactions, quantitative models of cellular metabolism and signaling, synthetic biology for engineering microbes and communities, microfluidic technologies coupled with single-cell genomics, theoretical frameworks for evolutionary dynamics, and biophysical models of membrane electrophysiology and cellular mechanics.

The impact extends from designing antiviral therapeutics and engineering sustainable biomanufacturing systems to mapping neural diversity in the brain and retina, revealing how cells maintain energy homeostasis, and uncovering how spatial structure shapes evolutionary adaptation in microbial populations. By combining computational theory with cutting-edge experimental technologies, our researchers bridge scales from atomic interactions to tissue-level organization. With Berkeley's strengths across chemistry, physics, engineering, and biology, and collaborations with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, this work creates new frameworks for understanding living systems that inform applications in medicine, biotechnology, and our fundamental comprehension of how biological complexity emerges from physical principles.

Primary Faculty

  • Adam Arkin, Professor, Department of Bioengineering
  • Daniel Fletcher, Professor, Department of Bioengineering
  • Oskar Hallatschek, Professor, Department of Physics
  • Friedrich Sommer, Adjunct Professor, Redwood Center for Theoretical Neuroscience and Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute
  • Peter Sudmant, Associate Professor, Department of Integrative Biology
  • Denis Titov, Assistant Professor, CCB and Departments of MCB and NST

Secondary Faculty

Affiliated Faculty