Pulling and peering at proteins

Synopsis

Did you know that we’ve made a wireless microscope that can function while subjected to accelerations of thousands of g?  Come to the talk to learn how it helps to us to understand how the biological building blocks of our body withstand stresses!  My group is interested in uncovering the “molecular blueprint” for mechanical strength and adaptability at the nanoscale.  To do so, we combine approaches from physics-archive, chemistry and biology to make and interrogate proteins.  I’ll discuss some of the physics-archive-based instrumentation and analytical tools that make this work possible, including techniques developed by undergraduates in my lab.