Biological systems and soft materials:

Future directions in statistical physics

A symposium on the interface of statistical physics, biology, and chemistry

Department of Physics, Virginia Tech

Blacksburg, Virginia, USA

March 6 and 7, 2004

 

Invited talk:

 

Ching-Hwa Kiang

Departments of Bioengineering and Physics and Astronomy, Rice University

 

DNA-based nanostructures

 

DNA, RNA, and proteins function in Nature in cells within a complex environment of interacting molecules.  The collective behavior of these molecules is, therefore, of central importance to understanding biomolecular interactions.  This talk will focus on using DNA-based nanostructures to study complex biomolecular interactions. Aggregation of DNA-coated nanogold networks will be used as a fundamental probe of DNA interactions.