ABSTRACT
Life sciences deal directly or indirectly with biological systems. Disciplines such as biology, physics, chemistry, pharmacology, materials science, engineering, and so on are combined with the aim of improving the quality of agricultural, environmental, biotechnological, and biomedical processes and products as well as that of foodstuffs and pharmaceuticals. In these areas colloids and interfaces are omnipresent. Living systems are heterogeneous, made up largely of proteins, polysaccharides, and other polyelectrolytes, and self-assembled amphiphilic molecules, all contained in an aqueous medium. Many processes controlling life occur at interfaces. For example, the biological membrane itself is a self-assembled structure of mainly phospholipids and (glyco)proteins. Glycoproteins on the cell wall participate in cellular aggregation and cellular growth; proteins of the reticuloendothelial system are likely to be involved in phagocytosis; the cytochrome enzyme system for oxidative phosphorylation is bound to the mitochondrion membrane and membrane proteins of chloroplasts have been shown to mediate in energy transfer processes during photosynthesis.
