HMC Physics Colloquium

Tuesdays at 16:30 in Shanahan Center for Teaching and Learning, Room B460

Jing Xu

University of California at Merced

Molecular Motor Biophysics: Hardware Instrumentation and Nonlinear Physics

Feb. 19, 2013

Experimental biophysicists build instruments to study nature’s nano-machines. Molecular motors are nano-machines and are crucial for life: they transport materials in cells. Motor-based transport is inherently a many body problem, and exhibits complex behavior yet to be understood. An analytic model for multiple motor transport has been proposed, but has remained untested. In this talk, I will discuss the construction of a single beam gradient optical trap in my laboratory. I will also discuss planned measurements using this optical trap, aimed at experimentally testing the current model and driving theory development.