Single-molecule Force Studies

We are interested in how biological systems work at the nanoscale, and the physical laws that govern their behavior. Our focus is on weak, thermally mediated interactions between and within biological molecules (e.g. base-pairing in nucleic acids, receptor-ligand bonding, protein folding, etc.), and the coupling of these interactions to mechanical force. We are currently developing and applying new techniques, based on optical tweezers and high-resolution optical detection, to study the mechanics and force-driven kinetics of single-molecules.