Computational Advances in Structural Biology

​Professor Hamdan's research interest is focused on the reconstitution, imaging and characterization of multi-protein nucleic acid binding machinaries at the single molecule level. Toward achieving this goal his lab uses an approach that combines conventional biochemical and biophysical tools with wide range of force and fluorescence single-molecule imaging techniques. The ability to observe enzymatic activities in real time at the single molecule level has profoundly changed how biochemical reactions are studied. By eliminating ensemble averaging, the distributions and fluctuations of molecular properties can be characterized, transient intermediates can be observed and identified, and catalytic mechanisms can be elucidated. Applying this multidisciplinary approach will provide a true molecular understanding of the mechanisms involved in replication, repair, and recombination. It will also extend the technique of single-molecule analysis from a few proteins to large multi-protein complexes, often containing many enzymatic activities.