Seed Proposal: Application of Molecular Motors for Local and High-Resolution Characterization of Single DNA Molecules
Alexey Bezryadin, Department of Physics
Taekjip Ha, Department of Physics
Lawrence B. Shook, Department of Animal Sciences
Gregory L. Timp, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
This proposal addresses the question as to if biological machines can be used to achieve high-resolution, high-rate imaging on the molecular level. Several proof-of-principal studies have reported interfaced molecular motors with nanoscale man-made objects, but the dream of using Nature’s own nanomachines for practical applications has yet to be realized. Thus, molecular motors remain interesting structures that stir the imagination, but have not been used to create practically important functional devices. This project will make this important step by combining nanofabrication, kinesin-mediated microtubule transport, microfluidics and optical single-molecule detection. While each component of the project have been demonstrated previously, it is the unique combination proposed that makes this approach highly exploratory with very attractive future possibilities. Generally speaking, applications of molecular motors could provide elegant solutions to many practical problems including assembling multi-dimensional DNA structures.