DOE Investigator’s Review Article Featured on Cover of Chemical Physics Letters

Summary

DOE investigator Dr. Haw Yang s (LBNL and UC-Berkeley) review article, Progress in Single-Molecule Tracking Spectroscopy was highlighted on the cover of the May 27, 2008 issue of Chemical Physics Letters. Yang is a leader in the field of 3D tracking spectroscopy for single molecules. Normally, measurements are made in biological systems on the average properties of many molecules of a specific type, not on single molecules. However, the average properties of a specific molecular species does not capture the range of reactivity of the individual molecules that may be critical to illuminating mechanisms that control important cellular processes. Dr. Yang is pioneering the development of experimental approaches that will track single molecule movement in cells, correlating the location of a molecule with its biological and chemical actions, and producing insights about how specific systems function in cells. He is currently developing spectrometric techniques to track individual fluorescent molecules as they move in three dimensions. This technology will be used to reveal the detailed behavior of the Cellulosome, the molecular complex that plays a fundamental role in the degradation of cellulose, as it interacts with cellulosic plant material.