Bachelorthesis:

Single-moleculare fluorenscence studies on the regulation of DNA-protein interactions

The central dogma of molecular biology implies that DNA integrity is of fundamental importance for all living beings. Thus, all kingdoms of life have evolved a large variety of DNA binding proteins that catalyze different kinds of DNA metabolic processes, such as DNA replication, DNA repair and transcription. We are interested in setting up a minimal in vitro system to study the regulation of DNA-protein interactions. For these studies, we use single molecule fluorescence techniques to overcome bulk and ensemble averaging. For example, we investigate conformational heterogeneity with Foerster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET). This work includes sample preparation (in vitro DNA and protein biochemistry) and data acquisition on home-built microscopes for single molecule fluorescence detection. If you have a background in biochemistry or related fields and are interested in an interdisciplinary research project please send your application including CV to: Jens Michaelis.