The Biomolecular spectroscopy & dynamics Cluster (BioC) - Research
Members of the BioC cluster have complementary strengths in areas on the border between biology, physics, and materials science. Ultrafast terahertz spectroscopy gives unique insights in delocalised modes in biomolecules. This is complemented by modern multidimensional NMR, which has a very high degree of atomistic structural detail, and fluorescence microscopy, which has the unique ability to analyse complex biomolecular dynamics. Chiral plasmonics is uniquely sensitive to three-dimensional structures of molecules and mesoscopic structures. All of these techniques have potential to lead to impact in the areas of sensors, synthetic biology, and innovative manufacturing.
Here are a few examples of our work:
- Sound-like bubbles whizzing around in DNA are essential to life (2016)
- The role of liquid-liquid demixing in crystallisation: icy fluff balls (2015)
- Chiral plasmonics nanomaterials (2014)
- Proteins ring like bells: ultrafast spectroscopy studies of proteins (2014)
- Fingerprinting meningitis with lasers (BBC website, 2014)