Collaborators: E. Bodenschatz, J. Guan, M. Koonce, C. Ober, L. Pollack, D. Sogah, M. Wang, W. Webb, U. Wiesner

Goals: Combination of micro and nanoscale fabrications, unique surface chemistries, and biological components provides a completely novel set of structural frameworks for experimental work. These frameworks allow previously unattainable control over spatial and temporal distributions of soluble or fixed biological components, as well as the capability to measure dynamic events that occur within very brief time frames. The goals of this program are to develop and utilize these novel fabrications to investigate dynamic processes of and within cells. We focus on fundamental questions related to biological movement: how do proteins fold? how do conformational changes drive cellular movement? how is this movement regulated at the level of an organelle? or regulated at the level of an entire cell?

The technological developments will allow us to address these questions in ways that simply cannot be answered by existing methods. The biological results will significantly enhance the resolution by which we understand dynamic cellular-based events and will provide new tools for addressing the molecular basis and treatment of disease. In addition, combinations of new designs, biological motors, and cellular structural elements will be explored to assess their potential in building novel cellular-based machines. Center-wide efforts of this program are unique through the cross-disciplinary participation of a number of chemical, engineering, physics, and biology experts on single projects.