The Physiology Course is for a class of 36 graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and established investigators who desire to learn the methods and research strategies used to study physiology at the cellular and molecular levels. Students will take 4 to 6 intense laboratories of 10 days each where they will learn both standard methods to purify and characterize proteins, nucleic acids, organelles and other cellular components as well as several advanced techniques used today to relate molecular structure to physiological function. The students will have hands-on experience with methods that are powerful but not routinely available in most cellular and molecular biology laboratories including X-ray crystallography, image processing of electron micrographs, stopped-flow (transient state) and steady state kinetics, in vitro reconstitution of complex cellular processes from purified components and chromosome engineering in yeast. Students will be exposed to a wide variety of biological problems including membrane traffic, organelle biogenesis, chromosome structure and cytoskeletal dynamics and will have chance to explore in depth the rationale for various experimental approaches with the instructors. A special feature of the course will be a section highlighting the diversity of marine specimens available at Woods Hole and their virtues as experimental systems for modern biology. Interested students may apply for postcourse research.