Time is linked to cellular function in two important ways. The first way is that the rates of many biological processes determine their function. The second way is that the mechanisms of biological reactions can be revealed by a study of their reaction rates. The goal of this instrument development program is to make tools that efficiently probe the time dependent evolution of biopolymer structures. What is unique about the tools to be built is that they allow reactions to be followed from their earliest steps from the point of view of each monomer of the polymers DNA, RNA and proteins. These tools will be low-cost, easy-to-use and inexpensive-to-operate machines so that biology laboratories will have an entrée into quantitative analysis and biophysical laboratories the incisive tools required for the analysis of very fast biological reactions. The mixing devices that will be built will be able to acquire time ? progress curves commencing from the earliest steps of macromolecular folding and binding reactions with as spatial resolution as fine as every residue of the polymer chain. From a quantitative understanding of the molecular mechanism of individual systems flows a broader understanding of the interrelationships among multiple systems. Ultimately, predictions of the behavior of biological systems based upon the physical properties of their constituent processes will be possible. While such predictions are an admittedly ambitious goal, new technological tools such as those to be built in this study will enable the acquisition of both the depth and breath of information that can make this dream a reality. The project will undergraduates in research through a Summer Undergraduate Research Program. Outreach activities include performing demonstrations is middle and high schools, as well as make them available to middle school and high school teachers.
