Probing Nature's Nano-machines with "Next Generation" Single-molecule Techniques
| Date/Time: | Monday, 19 Sep 2016 from 4:10 pm to 5:00 pm |
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| Location: | Phys 0003 |
| Contact: | Gloria Oberender |
| Phone: | 515-294-5441 |
| Channel: | College of Liberal Arts and Sciences |
| Actions: | Download iCal/vCal | Email Reminder |
Abstract: Scientists have come to view the living cell as a kind of "factory", where specialized machineries carry out Abstract: essential tasks at specific places and times in the cell. These molecular nano-machines perform tasks as diverse as maintaining the cell's genome, transporting cargo around the cell, and moving the cells themselves. Using tools at the interface between physics and biology, researchers are now able to study these machines one at a time. These single-molecule tools have revolutionized our understanding of many biological processes, providing new insights on the structural, mechanical, and dynamic properties of biomolecules. Despite these advances, the information extracted from single-molecule measurements is often limited. In this talk, I will focus on our work developing the next generation of single-molecule techniques to overcome these limitations, providing unprecedented access into the relationship between protein structure and function. I will discuss how these new approaches are helping us understand the cellular machinery that maintains and repairs the genome.
Bio: Professor Yann Chemla received his PhD. in physics from the University of California, Berkeley in 2001 in condensed matter physics. He developed an interest in biology and transitioned to biophysics as a postdoctoral fellow with Carlos Bustamante at the University of California, Berkeley. There, he learned the techniques of single-molecule manipulation, using optical traps to study viral DNA packaging, a critical step in the self-assembly of viruses.
Prof. Chemla joined the Department of Physics at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in 2007. His group is broadly interested in mechanical processes in biology--ranging from how molecular machines process DNA and maintain the genome, to how living cells move and respond to environmental signals. He approaches these processes by developing cutting-edge biophysical techniques such as high-resolution optical traps, combined with single-molecule fluorescence microscopy, applied to individual molecules and live cells.
Prof. Chemla is the recipient of several prestigious awards including the Burroughs-Welcome Fund Career Awards at the Scientific Interface (CASI) (2005), NSF CAREER award (2010), and Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship (2010).
He is currently the co-director of the NSF Physics Frontier Center (PFC), the "Center for the Physics of Living Cells" (CPLC) at the University of Illinois (2015-present), one of only two PFCs dedicated to biophysics.