Physics of Life

Many physicists and biologists believe that physics can really contribute to deeper understanding of the properties of biological systems such as proteins and nucleic acids, processes in a cell, transport of different substances across cell membrane or what we call life. In this research we aim at studying i) fundamental processes in the cell in order to elucidate the biophysical mechanisms that are responsible for transport of biomolecules through the nuclear pore complex, the transmission of mechanical forces through the cytoskeleton, protein aggregation in neurodegenerative diseases and membrane fusion by studying the conformational dynamics of surface proteins; ii) the structure and mechanics of viral capsids, their interaction with host cell molecules and the mechanisms of nanoparticle self-assembly with various biophysical techniques, including atomic force microscopy and fluorescence microscopy; iii) the structure and dynamics of liposomes and extracellular vesicles; iv) the protein misfolding and aggregation behind Huntington's disease and related neurodegenerative disorders using magic-angle-spinning NMR methods.