Since the first endeavor in 2015, the BioPhys Mex conference has gathered an enthusiastic community of scientists, students, and professors interested in sharing knowledge on emerging interdisciplinary perspectives at the intersection of physics, biology, computer modeling, and mathematics. The response was overwhelming, with an outstanding list of speakers, and the beautiful landscape of Mexico City. The challenge was to bring together specialists from diverse fields and expertise, by blurring the frontiers of disciplines rather enclosed in the formal tradition. The interdisciplinary perspective was emphasized in the 2017 and 2019 editions of the BioPhys Mex, which took place at the Center of Complexity Sciences (C3) at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). The publication of the proceedings in 2015, and 2017 was an important step forward for a possible consolidation of Biophysics in the Mexican scientific community (1,2).
The Biophysics in Mexico had an important impulse when Dr Leopoldo Garcia Collin (Mexico City, 1930-2012) introduced the Physical Biology as an interdisciplinary subject, and expended the horizon and views of many generations of Mexican scientists (3). As a result, young students enroll in Biophysics undergraduate programs, for example, at the Autonomous University of San Luis Potosí. Likewise, graduate programs in biotechnology, biosciences, and biomedicine, among others, are part of the offer in private and public Universities (http://www.educaedu.com.mx). Another effort to disseminate advances in Biophysics in Mexico is the National School in Molecular Biophysics, organized every year since 2000 at the Physics Department of the Autonomous University of Sonora. One of the main objectives of the school is to offer workshops, lectures, and seminars on specialized topics including experimental techniques such as electrophysiology, microscopy, spectroscopy, and computational or theoretical approaches. The XXV edition of the school will take place the next December 2025 (https://biofisica.unison.mx).
The BioPhys Mexico initiative is part of the efforts to bring together students, professors, researchers, and any general audience interested in a better understanding of the complexity involved in a biological process, with the possibility of exploring new ways of interaction with our environment, among other important applications. We have scheduled the BioPhys Mexico 2025 at the Autonomous Metropolitan University at Lerma City, in the State of Mexico. Thanks to a close collaboration of colleagues of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), the Potosino Institute of Science and Technology (IPICYT), and the Autonomous University of Mexico City (UACM), the Biophys Mex in 2025 conference will take place in May 7th to 9th, with participation of experts from Europe, north and south America. We believe the students would find new perspectives in the BioPhys Mexico 2025, with an additional motivation of being awarded in our poster contest.
Register at https://biophys2025.ipicyt.edu.mx
References
1. Olivares-Quiroz, L., O. Guzmán-López, and H. E. Jardón-Valadez. 2015. Physical Biology of Proteins and Peptides: Theory, Experiment, and Simulation. Springer International Publishing Switzerland.
2. Olivares-Quiroz, L., and O. Resendis-Antonio. 2018. Quantitative Models for Microscopic to Macroscopic Biological Macromolecules and Tissues. 1:226, Suppl 1.
3. Hernández-Lemus, E. 2011. Biological physics in México. Journal of Biological Physics. 37(2):167-184, doi: 10.1007/s10867-011-9218-8, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10867-011-9218-8.