In the first area, I have an extensive laboratory located in the Physics Department for the study of elementary excitations in direct bandgap materials. The work in biophysics is in collaboration with Professor Ari Gafni in the Department of Biological Chemistry and is performed in a biophysical laboratory which we co-direct. Our primary research problem is on the study of the mechanisms of protein folding.
Protein molecules are the effectors of all biological function.
They are linear sequences of amino acids which assume a unique three-dimensional structure for biological function. Failure of these molecules to fold correctly into the appropriate three dimensional structure leads to severe problems of clinical significance. The folding problem itself remains a great mystery since statistically, it would take longer than the age of the universe to fold randomly while in practice, proteins fold in minutes. Lasers provide a powerful means to probe these systems to understand the dynamics.