Biophysical Society Newsletter - November 2016

6

BIOPHYSICAL SOCIETY NEWSLETTER

2016

NOVEMBER

Biophysical Journal Know the Editors

Our model aims to address genomically relevant length scales while accounting for the protein- DNA interactions that drive condensation at the molecular scale. Genomic DNA is an incredibly long polymer, and capturing these multi-scale ef- fects is not an easy task. The challenges associated with bridging vast length scales of behavior are similar to those faced by scientists and engineers whose goal is to establish physical models of conventional polymers. Thus, there is a wealth of established approaches that can be leveraged, adapted, and extended to develop a physics-based model of chromosomal organization and dynam- ics with predictive capabilities. Q. What has been your most exciting discovery as a biophysicist? My work with Steph Weber , McGill University, and Julie Theriot , Stanford University, led to the discovery that the complex motion of chromo- somal DNA within a bacterium can be captured by extending a classical model for the motion of a polymer molecule. This work bolsters our ap- proach in modeling chromosomal DNA at vari- ous coarse-grained levels with the hope of directly engaging experimental measurements of in vivo behavior.

Andrew Spakowitz Stanford University Editor, Nucleic Acids and Genome Biophysics

Andrew Spakowitz

Q. What are you currently working on that excites you? My research group is focused on developing a theoretical model of the physical segregation of chromosomal DNA within the nucleus of a cell. Densely packed regions of DNA (called hetero- chromatin) have genes that are silenced. Whereas more loosely packed regions (called euchromatin) are able to express their coded proteins. This physical segregation marks the transition from an undifferentiated stem cell to a cell with a specific identity. Therefore, this theoretical model aims to capture a biological process that is fundamental to our understanding of multicellular organisms.

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