Research
Developing high resolution optical tweezers and other methods for nanotechnology and cell biology
One of the major research focuses in the lab is instrumentation and developing high resolution optical tweezers that can measure the translocation of molecular motors at a single-base pair resolution with high precision. At CMU, we are currently developing methods to combine confocal fluorescence microscopy with the optical tweezers that can measure forces at the pico-Newton level and distances within a nanometer accuracy. The high resolution tweezers will be used to study the mechanical properties, conformational dynamics and interactions of biological macromolecules in healthy and diseased states of the cell. All students with Physics (Mellon College of Science) and Engineering (Carnegie Institute of Technology) background should write to Dr. Mandal to learn more about the recent ongoing projects.