Principles and Models of Biological Transport

Transport processes are ubiquitous in the living organism, underlying nerve conduction and muscle contraction, digestion, kidney function and the nourishment of every cell in the body. The mechanisms by which these processes take place, and the models that describe them, are the subject of Principles and Models of Biological Transport, 2^nd Edition. Beginning with the principles of thermodynamics and the organization of the cell, the text discusses each of the transport mechanisms found in the organism, their structure at the molecular level, their function and features, and their integration into tissues and organs.

Courses based on the text will be of interest to students who wish to understand the fundamentals of biological transport and the models that describe it. It will provide readers with the knowledge necessary to interpret transport experiments in biological systems and to predict performance or behavior from transport data. Advanced undergraduates or graduate students in Biomedical Engineering or Physiology and Biophysics will find this book useful, as will other engineers (Mechanical, Chemical, Environmental) who have some familiarity with biology, or Biology students who prefer a more quantitative approach to the subject.

The new edition includes numerous figures and references, and problems at the end of each chapter. It is supported by an open web site http://biotrans.pratt.duke.edu/ to facilitate its use in class. The web site allows faculty users to share syllabi based on the text and to post additional problems that can serve as illustrations or be given to students; all users are welcome to note corrections and suggest improvements in the text, and to add new material to the knowledge base. The web site is intended to support a "community of the book" that can maintain its currency and value into the future.