Physics 598 Lecture 8: smFRET (Dr. Paul Selvin)

smFRET 3/7/2016 Dr. Paul Selvin Paul Selvin earned a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1990. Formally it was in physics, but in reality, it was in biophysics. The last experiment for his thesis, for example, was measuring the torsional rigidity of DNA by looking at a fluorophore intercalated in DNA, twisting around. A paper based on this experiment was published in Science (Selvin, 1992, Science) and later confirmed in a single molecule experiment (Bryant, Nature, 2003). This course provides training in advanced biophysical techniques through hands-on laboratory exercises and weekly lectures as background. Topics will cover general optical and fluorescence spectroscopy, introduction to various microscope techniques - wide field, bright field, DIC, fluorescence, single-molecule fluorescence imaging, FRET, super-resolution fluorescence imaging, and atomic force microscopy and, if time permits, a unit on computational Visual Molecular Dynamics tools. The course is targeted to graduate students and advanced undergraduates from physics, biophysics, engineering, MCB, and chemistry. Enrollment is limited to 12 due to lab space, so you are encouraged to register early. Lectures and Labs will be held in Loomis Laboratory and the Institute for Genomic Biology.