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Research in Biochemistry and Structural Biology |
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Research in biochemistry and structural biology is directed towards understanding the molecular structures and mechanisms that underlie all biological processes. In recent years, there have been tremendous advances in our ability to determine the structures of biological macromolecules and dissect their mechanisms at atomic resolution. Within the Department of Biology, techniques including x-ray crystallography, NMR spectroscopy, kinetic analysis and genetic manipulation are used to study the molecules involved in a variety of biological phenomena, including bacterial chemotaxis, protein folding, neurobiology, intra- and inter-cellular signalling, cellular architecture and development. Students and faculty in the Department also interact extensively with other Departments and Programs, including the Departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry and the Interdepartmental Graduate Program in Biological Chemistry. Markus Babst Protein trafficking in eukaryotic cells; organelle biogenesis David Blair Mechanism of bacterial flagellar rotation; transmembrane proton conduction; structure-function of membrane proteins Naomi Franklin Molecular Genetics; Regulation of transcription in prokaryotes Dave Gard Regulation of microtubule assembly; microtubule-associated proteins David Goldenberg Mutational and chemical studies of protein folding; NMR spectroscopy Laura Hoffman Protein binding properties in cellular adhesion of the protein zyxin Martin Horvath Structural biology of telomeres and neuroreceptors J. Michael McIntosh Receptors and ion channels; neuroscience; neuropharmacology Toto Olivera Structure and function of peptide toxins from marine snails Sandy Parkinson Molecular basis of bacterial chemotaxis; signal transdution Doju Yoshikami Molecular physiology of ion channels |