Biological Physics
Bulbul Chakraborty is using a combination of simulations and analytical tools to explore:
(a) Shape and Dynamics of polymers under extreme confinement and their relevance to cellular processes.
(b) Dynamical instability in microtubules and the sensitivity of the growth process to external agents.
Zvonimir Dogic’s research covers several areas in complex fluids and biological physics. His research lies at the interface between biology, soft matter physics and materials science. Biological materials are used as model systems to address fundamental questions in statistical mechanics related to interactions between semiflexible polymers and their pathways of self-assembly. The understanding of biopolymer interactions derived from his studies will shed new light on important biological processes. For example, actin filaments are an essential building block of a highly regulated and dynamic cell cytoskeleton. To explain how a cell uses its cytoskeleton to perform a variety of tasks it is necessary to understand the interactions between actin filaments. Additionally, his experiments will also provide new design principles for novel hierarchical biomaterials with unique properties. Current topics include rods in shear flow, polymers in nematics, isotropic-smectic phase transition, chiral ribbons, 2D smectic phases, lamellar melting, and studies of the fd virus.
Seth Fraden is studying the physics of protein crystallization, which is currently the rate limiting step in determination of protein structure. He is also developing labs on a chip for applications in biotechnology.
Michael Hagan’s lab endeavors to understand how fundamental physical principles lead to the forces that control assembly and dynamic pattern formation in biological and biomimetic systems. Because assembling structures can be orders of magnitude larger than the individual components, his lab develops and applies computational and theoretical methods that bridge disparate length and time scales. Applications of these methods include understanding assembly mechanisms for viral capsids and other large protein complexes, and learning to direct the rational design of novel materials with biomimetic function. For further information please visit Michael Hagan’s research page at U.C. Berkeley.
Jané Kondev works on mathematical models of cellular structures and processes. The goal is to develop simple, analytically tractable models which lead to quantitative predictions that can be tested in the lab. Currently the Kondev group is investigating the packaging of DNA into bacterial viruses and chromosomes, transcriptional regulation of gene expression, chromosome diffusion in the yeast nucleus, and voltage gating of ion channels. More details, as well as links to published papers, can be found on the group's web site.
Alfred Redfield specializes in the application of nuclear magnetic resonance to biopolymers. The emphasis is on the structure of oncogenic and related proteins, using proton NMR aided by the use of biosynthetically incorporated 15N labels. His laboratory spans a wide range of activity, from growth of microorganisms and purification of proteins, to development of a field cycling NMR system. Prof. Redfield is a Member of the National Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Azadeh Samadani’s lab places a major emphasis in combining quantitative experimental methods with theoretical and computational approaches to study biological questions at the systems level. Her research interests include understanding directional sensing mechanisms in eukaryotic cells, non-genetic individuality and its effects on the fitness of a population, noise in biological systems, swimming microorganisms, population, pattern formation, predator-pray interaction, complex materials and microfluidic devices. For more information please visit Samadani Lab.
In addition, graduate students in physics may choose Ph.D. advisors from the biophysics or neuroscience faculty.
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| Fluorescence microscopy image of bacteria which have been genetically engineered to produce the green fluorescent protein. The amount of protein produced by each bacterium is under the control of a genetic circuit. Mathematical analysis of naturally occurring circuits as well as the engineering of artificial gene circuits is a rapidly expanding area of research at the interface of physics and biology. | |||