Researching Life at the Molecular Level
Biophysicists seek to understand the fundamental processes of life by applying
the methods of physics and chemistry to biological systems. Understanding these
biological systems and their complex processes requires exquisitely detailed
knowledge of molecular structures and molecular functions. To investigate life
at this most basic level, biophysicists use some of the most powerful tools
available-X ray crystallography, optical and laser spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic
resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and advanced computational science.
Collaborations among Diverse Faculty Members and Graduate Students
Biophysics at Cornell encompasses a diversity of research topics, as well
as a number of collaborations involving shared ideas, facilities and materials.
Research is often cooperative, usually interdisciplinary, and occasionally
even somewhat freewheeling. A biophysicist trained in chemistry collaborates
with a materials scientist to discover why the molecular structure of a spider's
dragline silk makes it five times stronger than steel. Those researchers employ
the same NMR and X-ray diffraction techniques used by the biochemists engaged
in chemical prospecting to identify and isolate natural substances with potential
medicinal value. Several researchers study cell membranes. One lab concentrates
on the results that can be achieved with the technique of fast-chemical kinetics.
Another group develops new optical techniques for imaging cells. Yet another
examines proteins, phospholipids and cholesterol in biomembranes. Energy transfer
among proteins during photosynthesis is another group's interest. And questions
about signaling, or the flow of information between and among cells, figure
in the work of several groups.
Excellent Career Opportunities
Because much of the current biophysics research at Cornell has great potential
for solving long-standing problems in medicine, biomedical engineering and
agriculture, graduates of Cornell's doctoral program in biophysics have a variety
of career options. They teach, conduct research, work for such government agencies
as the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Energy and pursue
a range of opportunities in private industry-from small start-up companies
and large, microelectronics-based corporations to investment and consulting
firms. Among national science agencies, private foundations and large corporations,
including pharmaceutical companies, there is great interest in biophysics.
Protein Structure and Function Is Key
One of the exciting challenges in biophysics is to understand the shape of
protein molecules, how the molecules fold and how this folding affects their
functions. The topic's importance is evident if you consider that enzymes,
which are proteins, regulate every one of the 10,000 or so chemical reactions
that take place in each living cell. Many protein molecules have already been
described-isolated, purified, crystallized and mapped, with all of their hundreds
of amino acids identified and pinpointed to an exact location. But protein
molecules do not sit still. In their biologically active forms, they undergo
librations and conformational transitions in response to their environment.
A true picture of a protein must also include this dynamic character, a difficult
topic of current investigation.