Efim Liberman toward the comprehension of the phenomenon of life

Abstract

Efim Liberman was a proud scholar of biophysics-a genuine scientific discipline that strives for high accuracy in contrast to descriptive biology. He played a major role at the Pushchino Institute of Biophysics and participated in Gelfand's famous seminar. He developed a groundbreaking model of neural impulses and discovered the decisive role of cell membranes and membrane channels in neural cell excitation. Efim Liberman studied artificial and biological membranes, and conducted seminal experiments to proof Mitchell's hypothesis of oxidative phosphorylation. He discovered penetrating ions in pioneering studies of mitochondrial electrical energetics. He put forward a trailblazing idea of an intracell analog-digital molecular computer capable of using genetically coded algorithms for processing information. His ideas and research gave impetus to academic studies in various areas, such as a role of small RNАs as universal regulators of life. Efim Liberman was an outstanding, versatile and bright personality whose lifelong journey was to pursue the comprehension of the Universe and to understand the phenomenon of life.

Keywords: Artificial membranes; Bioenergetics; Biophysics; Chaimatics; Efim Liberman; Membrane channels; Mitochondrial electricity; Oxidative phosphorylation; Random mutations; Small RNА.