Unveiling Physics in Biology by Manipulation of Single Molecules
CIC nanoGUNE Seminars
- Speaker
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J. Ricardo Arias-Gonzalez, IMDEA-Nanociencia, Madrid, Spain
- When
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2010/09/13
13:00 - Place
- nanoGUNE seminar room, Tolosa Hiribidea 76, Donostia - San Sebastian
- Add to calendar
-
iCal
We work in the field of Molecular and Cell Biophysics, furthering the study of
the macromolecules that make up the machinery of cells. Our laboratory
attempts to increase the understanding of the molecules of life beyond the
biochemical viewpoint. Biological molecules have traditionally been studied
with bulk biochemical methods, where a large number of these are analyzed
simultaneously. These macroscopic experiments provide ensemble and time
averages of the individual characteristics of each molecule. The set of
deterministic properties and slow variation thus obtained result in an
idealized image, that is, molecules with slow and well defined dynamics. Yet
at the level of individual molecules, the picture is very different: one can
find them in states that are far from the average behavior of the population,
and their instantaneous dynamics are rapid and highly random.
In this seminar we will first analyze the nanotools that we have already
developed and those that are currently in progress. These techniques are
thought to manipulate, both in vitro and in vivo, biomolecular particles by
means of electromagnetic fields (optical tweezers and magnetic manipulation).
In a second part, we will focus on the specific biophysical research lines of
our laboratory, which have to do with three fundamental scale levels in
Biology, namely, the levels of the molecule, the organelle and the cell. We
will present our work in structural transitions of Nucleic Acids, molecular
motors and electrophysiology of organelles.