Biophysics at the turn of the century: autowaves

By the example of the formation of dissipative patterns in Belousov-Zhabotinsky reactions and in population waves of mobile microorganisms, an attempt was made to analyze the development of the "autowave conception" in the last ten years. New results obtained at the Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Biophysics, Russian Academy of Sciences, were demonstrated. The place of the "autowave conception" among other methods of studying nonlinear cooperative bioprocesses that form the basis of synergism is shown. The review was prepared on the occasion of the 275th anniversary of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the 2nd Biophysical Meeting of Russia.