Biophysical Research

By applying and extending the rules of physical chemistry to biological systems, faculty members ask questions in a wide range of biologically relevant topics.

These include the transport of lipids in an aqueous system (Narayanaswami, Weers), protein-lipopolysaccharides interactions in innate immunity (Weers), and design of small molecules that will mimic enzymes to bind ions (Marinez).
Attention is also focused on ligand binding to heme iron (Lopez) and structure-function relationships of the iron-binding protein lactoferrin are studied to better understand its role in mammalian iron metabolism (McAbee).
Biochemistry and physical chemistry faculty study the dynamics of biomolecular systems via massive simulations using computers donated from around the world (Sorin) and probe the chemical and structural basis of how enzymes achieve their enormous rate enhancement and exquisite pecificity (Schwans).
Scanning probe microscopy and electrochemical methods are used to study the influence of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and sequence-specific DNA-binding proteins on electrical properties of single DNA molecules and 2-D DNA assemblies (Slowinski).