Monday 9 February 2009
Physics Tango - PHD research project
Title of PhD thesis: Single Molecule Measurements of Protelomerase TelK-DNA Complexes
Name:Markita Landry
University:University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
Dancers: Florin Bora and Markita Landry
Expected year of completion: 2009 and 2011, respectively.
My Ph.D. work involves the use of a relatively new technology called optical trapping. Using focused laser beams, (1064 nm = infrared beam = red dress) can trap dielectric particles (we use grey/black microspheres = black shirt). The laser holds the beads in place, but it is ultimately the motion of the beads that allow us to take our measurements, and that must be followed extremely precisely (in our case, our resolution is 3.4 angstroms, which is a very small length scale). This precision with regards to following the motion of the beads was my motivation for expressing the theory of optical trapping through tango, which is a dance that is heavily dependent on the ability of the follower to follow the steps that are led. These steps are non-deterministic and are made up by the leader on a real-time basis, so the follower never knows what to expect, and must always be acutely aware of their partners motions to follow correctly.
For my Ph.D. work, I am using optical tweezers to study protein-DNA interactions on a very small scale. I am studying a prokaryotic version of Telomerase, Protelomerase TelK. Telomerases are an active field of study due to their major role in protecting cells against premature aging. However, hyperactive telomerases are also involved in various forms of cancer. Our goal is to characterize the mechanism by which TelK forms DNA hairpins in its DNA substrate, and how the kinetics and binding modes of this mechanism vary with applied tension.
For more information, please see the following APS abstract:
http://absimage.aps.org/image/MWS_SES08-2008-020019.pdf
Name:Markita Landry
University:University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
Dancers: Florin Bora and Markita Landry
Expected year of completion: 2009 and 2011, respectively.
My Ph.D. work involves the use of a relatively new technology called optical trapping. Using focused laser beams, (1064 nm = infrared beam = red dress) can trap dielectric particles (we use grey/black microspheres = black shirt). The laser holds the beads in place, but it is ultimately the motion of the beads that allow us to take our measurements, and that must be followed extremely precisely (in our case, our resolution is 3.4 angstroms, which is a very small length scale). This precision with regards to following the motion of the beads was my motivation for expressing the theory of optical trapping through tango, which is a dance that is heavily dependent on the ability of the follower to follow the steps that are led. These steps are non-deterministic and are made up by the leader on a real-time basis, so the follower never knows what to expect, and must always be acutely aware of their partners motions to follow correctly.
For my Ph.D. work, I am using optical tweezers to study protein-DNA interactions on a very small scale. I am studying a prokaryotic version of Telomerase, Protelomerase TelK. Telomerases are an active field of study due to their major role in protecting cells against premature aging. However, hyperactive telomerases are also involved in various forms of cancer. Our goal is to characterize the mechanism by which TelK forms DNA hairpins in its DNA substrate, and how the kinetics and binding modes of this mechanism vary with applied tension.
For more information, please see the following APS abstract:
http://absimage.aps.org/image/MWS_SES08-2008-020019.pdf
MUNDIAL de TANGO Narcotango - El Motivo Tango
please follow link, embedding disable:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbIlTrXjTrs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbIlTrXjTrs
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