Biological Physics

	< > Vincent Noireaux Vincent Noireaux is an experimentalist in biophysics who studies in vivo and in vitro gene expression, artificial cell, cytoskeleton and artificial motility.

This picture is a 3D magnetic resonance image of a subject who heard a sound 140 milliseconds ago.

Physics of Biology

In biological physics, quantitative aspects and ideas and techniques of physics research are applied to biological problems. Physics has been evolving in the direction of studying more complex systems, and in doing so, has begun to expand its subject area to include living systems.

For example, Professor Joachim Mueller leads an experimental group who are studying the kinetic pathways that occur when proteins misassemble, a topic that has relevance in research on Alzheimer's disease. His lab features a novel approach to fluorescence fluctuation spectroscopy (a process where a fluorescent compound is injected into a cell and studied under a microscope) with the innovation of a high pressure cell that allows spectroscopy over a broad range of pressures.

Vincent Noireaux, experimentalist in biophysics, studies in vivo and in vitro gene expression, artificial cell, cytoskeleton and artificial motility.

Another experimentalist, John Broadhurst, analyzes signal processing in the human brain with a non-invasive technique known as magneto-encephalography, which measures activity in the audio cortex.

Theorist Boris Shklovskii is studying, among other things, charge inversion in DNA with a computer simulation of electrophoresis (the migration of charged molecules such as proteins in an electrical field).

Biological Physics Faculty

Jochen Mueller	Experimental biophysics, two-photon excitation microscopy, fluorescence fluctuation spectroscopy
Vincent Noireaux	Experimental biological physics and synthetic biology. In vitro gene expression, development of quantitative cell-free transcription/translation systems, biophysics of a synthetic cell system.
Elias Puchner	Cellular and molecular biophysics, cell- and synthetic biology. Single molecule and super-resolution microscopy (PALM/STORM). Single molecule force spectroscopy (AFM). http://puchnerlab.umn.edu
Boris Shklovskii	Theory of transport and electron-electron correlations in disordered systems, quantum Hall effect, hopping conduction, metal-nonmetal transition and transport in nano-crystal films.
Jorge Vinals	Nonlinear dynamics, pattern formation, and chaos in systems driven outside of thermodynamic equilibrium. Topological defect motion in soft matter, including transport.
John Broadhurst	The process of human hearing, using locally induced nuclear reactions to enhance the treatment of cancers by high energy (Mev) photons or thermal neutrons. The role of heavy cations in controlling contracting muscle cells..

Biological Physics Researchers

Yan Chen
Elizabeth Smith	Super-resolution microscopy, Single molecule fluorescence.

Biological Physics Graduate Students

Christopher Angert	Biophysics, instrumentation for time-correlated single photon counting
Angel Mancebo
Yao Meng
Mark Rustad	Calcium transport in heart cells; Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR); Molecular Dynamics (MD) Simulations