Building new tools to study biomolecules
Our effort is split between developing new physical tools to probe biological molecules, and using our tools to make new measurements. We choose problems by looking in unexplored regimes of time and space; we combine nanofabrication, lasers, microfluidics, electronics, biochemistry, and computers to generate data; and we apply statistics and physical modeling to understand the data.
 |
Research Areas |
|
 |
|
|
 |
 |
|
News
Adam gets tenure (3/2012)
Thanks to everyone in the lab whose hard work brought this about.Degradation-induced motion in biogels, published in Soft Matter (3/2012)
Jen's paper on "Motion Induced by Asymmetric Enzymatic Degradation of Hydrogels" just came out. She showed that enzyme gradients could lead to directional transport of beads embedded in a biogel. And then she showed why this happens. Congratulations, Jen!New faces in the lab (3/2012)
Elisabeth Meyer is an undergrad and will work with Alex on DNA mechanics. Namrata Anand is also an undergrad, and she is working with Team VIP on Voltage Indicating Proteins. Feng Tian is a rotation student from MCB and is also working on applications of voltage imaging to neuronal stem cells. Welcome all!Sabrina finishes postdoc, starts new lab at McGill (1/2012)
Congratulations to Sabrina and all the best in the new job!Blinking Neurons published in Nature Methods (11/2011)
Fluorescence of Archaerhodopsin 3 is very sensitive to membrane potential (and it responds in < 500 microseconds!). Rat neurons expressing Arch emit a flash of fluorescence every time they fire. Here's the paper. Check out Supplementary Movies 1 and 3.ABEL trap patent issues (11/2011)
Here's the patent on the ABEL trap, joint with W. E. Moerner.Jeehae Park joins lab (11/2011)
Jeehae did her PhD in the lab of TJ Ha at UIUC on single-molecule studies of protein dynamics. She'll be applying her skills to design better voltage indicating proteins. Welcome Jeehae!Optical imaging of nanomagnetic fields (11/2011)
Hohjai and Nan's paper came out in Nano Letters: "Mapping Nanomagnetic Fields Using a Radical Pair Reaction." They used a fluorescent chemical indicator of magnetism to look at the fields around microfabricated structures. Visualizing quantum coherence in a room-temperature liquid--pretty cool!Ultrasensitive measurements of microbial rhodopsin photocycles(10/2011)
Halil's paper came out in Photochemistry and Photobiology: "Ultrasensitive Measurements of Microbial Rhodopsin Photocycles Using Photochromic FRET." Halil attached a fluorophore to a microbial rhodopsin so that only some states in the rhodopsin photocycle quenched the fluorophore (via changes in the spectral overlap between fluorophore emission and rhodopsin absorption). This procedure converts changes in absorption into changes in fluorescence. Well done, Halil!Adam named John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Natural Sciences (9/2011)
Thank you Mr. Loeb!Blinking bacteria published in Science (7/14/2011)
Congratulation to Joel, Daniel, and Adam D. on their paper on Electrical Spiking in Escherichia coli Probed with a Fluorescent Voltage-Indicating Protein. PROPS for a job well done. See also news stories in ScienceNow, LiveScience, Nature, Science Signaling, and Biotechniques.Markov model Journal Club wheel
Ever have trouble deciding who should present for your lab's journal club? Jen came to the rescue with a Matlab-based Markov model to help make the choice. Feel free to copy and adapt the code.Perspective on ABEL trapping (June 2011)
Adam and Alex wrote a perspective on a paper by Wang and Moerner in ACS Nano. We discuss the question: Scientists can trap single small molecules in solution. Now what?Adam talks a lot (June 2011)
Adam recently gave three non-research talks:- Commencement address at Hunter College High School, and receipt of 2011 Distinguished Graduate Award. Here's the text of his speech.
- Keynote address at the United Nimba Citizens Council annual meeting, on the topic of Science Education in Liberia. Pictures.
- A three-hour workshop on undergraduate science education for ten visiting scientists from Ghana and Mali as part of the Novartis/Seeding Labs Fellows Program.