Friday, February 4, 2005
1:00pm – 2:00pm
Professor Ronald
Larson
Chair, Department of
Chemical Engineering
University of
Michigan
ÒDNA and
MicrofluidicsÓ
Abstract:
We extend recent
single-molecule imaging methods to the study of the interactions of DNA
polymers with surfaces in the presence of flow or electric fields. These
interactions are of importance in the development of microfluidic devices for
processing of DNA and other large molecules for genomics applications, and to
learn how proteins interact with DNA in cellular processes such as DNA repair,
transcription, etc. Using single-molecule optical microscopy and atomic force
microscopy experiments and Brownian dynamics simulations of DNA molecules,
combined with fluid mechanics analyses, we consider isolated DNA molecules near
adsorbing and non-adsorbing walls in the presence of flows. In particular,
we explore ways in which DNA unraveling can be optimized through manipulation
of flow and electric fields, and how one can design theoretical models to
explain the unraveling processes.