Research

Campustown

Theme 1

Single-molecule biophysics at the molecular-cellular interface

Single-molecule biophysics at the molecular-cellular interface leverages our newly developed single-molecule techniques to control and measure quantitatively and sensitively single-molecule forces from living cells and sub-cellular assemblies, measure DNA physical properties genome-wide and correlate them to molecular behavior and physiological consequences, and probe protein-nucleic acid interactions at the proteomic/cellular level.

Project team

Highlights from this project

Campustown

Theme 2

Resolving cellular processes with single-cell experiments

Maximizing information content of single cell experiments focuses on processes in living cells as they unfold in real time. We develop next-generation RNA imaging technology to probe the many functions of RNA. Evolution in the laboratory is quantified through highthroughput microscopy in real time. Single-cell measurements probe how bacteria respond to environmental stimuli.

Project team

Highlights from this project

Super-resolution microscopy with small quantum dots reveals neuronal receptor localization

Campustown

Theme 3

Collective dynamics: from cell-cell interaction to multicellular systems

Collective dynamics: from cell-cell interaction to multicellular organisms builds on our expertise in single-molecule and single-cell probes extending research to complex systems ranging from cell-cell interactions between neurons, to communication among bacterial cells, all the way to the behavior of multicellular organisms.

Project team

Highlights from this project

Campustown

Theme 4

Increasing biological realism in theory and computation

Increasing biological realism in theory and computation exploits recent methodological advances, many our own, to extend computational and theoretical biophysics to the very small (electronic) and very large (whole-cell) scales. In bottom-up and top-down approaches we explore computationally, jointly with experiment, such systems as bioenergetics organelles, chromatin, signaling networks as well as whole cells.