Intro; Preface; Contents; Employed Symbols; Mathematical Notation; Physical Constants; Chapter 1: Devils, Ratchets and Biomolecular Motors; 1.1 The Century of the Devils; 1.2 The Unbearable Attractiveness of Irreversibility; 1.3 The Devil Is a Pawl; 1.4 Swimming in Molasses; 1.5 Down in the Bioworld; References; Chapter 2: Entropy and Information; 2.1 Back to Thermodynamics; 2.2 The Statistical Character of Entropy; 2.3 Out of Equilibrium; 2.4 Shaping the World; 2.5 The Role of Information; 2.6 The Physics of Neglecting; References; Chapter 3: A Computer Called the Universe

3.1 A Controversial Origin3.2 The Atomic Universe; 3.3 The Molecular Universe; 3.4 The Birth of Chemistry; 3.5 Back to Earth; 3.6 The Computing Universe; References; Chapter 4: Biomolecules, Networks and Bioenergetics: System Approach to Biology; 4.1 A New Paradigm; 4.2 The Molecules of Life; 4.3 Building the Cells; 4.4 Viruses; 4.5 Thermodynamics in Action; 4.6 The Path of Bioenergy; 4.7 Life and Energy; 4.8 Taming the Rates; 4.9 Towards a System Biology; References; Chapter 5: Making Sense of Life; 5.1 An Enlightening Contribution; 5.2 The Nature and Role of Free Energy

5.3 The Eighth Day of Creation5.4 A Gentlemenś Club; 5.5 Central Dogma at Work; 5.6 Feedback Control; 5.7 Regulator Gene; 5.8 Final Remark; References; Chapter 6: Complexity and Information: A Metaphor of Natural and Technological Systems; 6.1 Complexity: A Philosophy or a Tool?; 6.2 A World Patterned by Networks; 6.3 The Language of Nature; 6.4 Natural Computers; 6.5 An Abundance of Energy (and Exergy) from the Top; 6.6 The Emerald Planet; 6.7 Eating the Sun; 6.8 Back to the Macroworld; 6.9 A Glance Towards the Future; References; Chapter 7: The Path of Evolution

7.1 The Informational Aspect of Evolution7.2 Evolution and Complexity; 7.3 Simulating Evolution; 7.4 Evolution in a Computer; 7.5 Meta-Biological Darwinism; References; Chapter 8: Imitation of Life: The Cell in a Silicon Chip; 8.1 The Chemoton; 8.2 A Challenging Problem; 8.3 Modeling of Metabolic Reaction Systems; 8.4 FBA Approach; 8.5 Exploring the Escherichia coli; 8.6 Whole Cell; References; Chapter 9: Synthetic Biology at Work; 9.1 The Synthetic Approach to Biology; 9.2 Progress in Gene Manipulations; 9.3 Frontier of Genome Engineering: The CRISPR/Cas System; 9.4 Technical Issues

9.5 Works in Progress9.6 A Renewed Synthetic Chemistry; 9.7 Metabolic Engineering; 9.8 Towards a Post-petroleum Era?; References; Chapter 10: Why Life?; 10.1 Resurrecting Prometheus; 10.2 The Beginning of Life; 10.3 Ideas and Theories on the Origin of Life; 10.3.1 Protein First; 10.3.2 Nucleic Acids First; 10.3.3 The Chicken or the Egg?; 10.3.4 RNA World; 10.3.5 The Phase Transition Approach to the Emergence of Life; 10.3.6 Back to Thermodynamics; 10.3.7 The Revenge of Energy; 10.3.8 A Merging Point?; 10.4 The First Synthetic Cell; References; Glossary; Sources; General; Titles in This Series