Life - As a Matter of Fat

LIFE - as a Matter of Fat

Lipidomics is the science of the fats called lipids. Lipids are as important for life as proteins, sugars, and genes. The present book gives a multi-disciplinary perspective on the physics of life and the particular role played by lipids and the lipid-bilayer component of cell membranes. The book is aimed at undergraduate students and young research workers within physics, chemistry, biochemistry, molecular biology, nutrition, as well as pharmaceutical and biomedical sciences. The emphasis is on the physical properties of lipid membranes seen as soft and molecularly structured interfaces. By combining and synthesizing insights obtained from a variety of recent studies, an attempt is made to clarify what membrane structure is and how it can be quantitatively described. Furthermore, it is shown how biological function mediated by membranes is controlled by lipid membrane structure and organization on length scales ranging from the size of the individual molecule, across molecular assemblies of proteins and lipid domains in the range of nanometers, to the size of whole cells. Applications of lipids in nano-technology and biomedicine are also described.

 The Emerging Science of Lipidomics

We have just witnessed a scientific revolution at the end of the 20th century that took us through the genomics era with a focus on sequencing genes and mapping gene products. We are now in the middle of the proteomics era where the multitude of proteins that are encoded in the genes are identified and their functions are unveiled. In front of us we have a new era recognizing the role of lipids. The science of lipidomics is emerging. Lipidomics involves a quantitative experimental and theoretical study of, e.g. lipid and membrane self-assembly, lipid-protein interactions, lipid-gene interactions, and the biophysical properties of lipid structure, function, and dynamics.

From the reviews:

"The book takes the reader on an exciting journey through the lipid world, and Mouritsen attracts the attention with a lively style of writing, and attitude to worldplay, as indicated in the book's title." (ChemBioChem 2005, 6, page 1463-1464)

"This is a highly interesting book and a pleasure to read. It represents a new and excellent pedagogical introduction to the field of lipids and the biophysics of biological membranes. I reckon that physicists and chemists as well as biologists will benefit from this approach to the field and Mouritsen shows a deep insight into the physical chemistry of lipids." (Göran Lindblom, Chemistry and Physics of Lipids 2005, vol. 135, page 105-106)

"This book is very much about many different aspects of the physical biochemistry of lipids. It covers the field in a very user friendly manner … . Each chapter has a variety of useful diagrams and schematics illustrating the key points of the chapter. … This book would make a useful contribution to libraries in universities and should be seen as essential reading for graduate students working in any aspect of cell biology, nutrition, and applied chemistry." (Andrew Sinclair, Chemistry in Australia, June, 2005)

"The book takes the reader on an exciting journey through the lipid world, and Mouritsen attracts the attention with a lively style of writing … . a comprehensive view of the ‘lipid sea’ can be easily achieved, gaining the right perspectives for envisaging future developments in the nascent field of lipidomics." (Carla Ferreri, ChemBioChem, Vol. 6 (8), 2005)

"This is a highly interesting book and a pleasure to read. It represents a new and excellent pedagogical introduction to the field of lipids and the biophysics of biological membranes. … I would like to highly recommend this book … . an introductory textbook for graduate or advanced undergraduate students in biology, chemistry and physics as wellas a lovely complementary text in a course of colloid chemistry." (Göran Lindblom, Chemistry and Physics of Lipids, Vol. 135, 2005)

"This book presents a multidisciplinary perspective on the physics of life, and particularly, the role played by lipids and the lipid-bilayer component of cell membranes. … This valuable and interesting book about the emerging science of lipidomics is aimed at undergraduate students and young research workers within physics, chemistry, biochemistry, molecular biology, nutrition, as well as pharmaceutical and biomedical sciences." (Advances in Food Sciences, Vol. 28 (2), 2006)