This page provides transparencies from two lectures given at the Odense summer school on
membrane physics in 2003. The documents are in the form of PDF files.
Overview Oldest cells Design criteria Rods and ropes Biofilaments Curtain wall construction Lipid membranes Membrane stability Efficiency of construction Summary of mechanics Membrane adhesion Entropic repulsion Wrinkles Introduction Membrane bending energy Spheres Ellipsoids Tubes Coils Networks Growth and division Entropy-driven division Curvature-driven lysis Overview Thermophiles High temperture membranes Energetics of cell shape Area distributions 3.47 Ga cells 2.1 Ga cells - small cells 2.1 Ga cells - mixed colonies 2.1 Ga cells - prolates 2.1 Ga cells - dyads Boundary thickness Simple model for division Area distributions Reduced volumes 2.1 Ga cells - tubes DNA storage Introduction Available compounds Size vs time Assessment index Summary