Abstract
All living systems are fundamentally a multiscale problem. Events at the nanometer scale have profound consequences for events at the centimeter or meter scale. This is especially true for movement in biology; movement modulated by muscle. And all muscles generate force by converting chemical energy into mechanical work. They do so via protein enzymes that undergo conformational changes upon release of stored energy. How they change shape and how they interact with each other via elastic or viscous coupling mechanisms remains a fundamental open problem in biophysical analyses of force generation by systems of molecular motors. And, intriguingly, we have entirely neglected the potential for force generation in multiple dimensions. This talk will review the history of our understanding of muscle and movement in biology and then explore both conceptual and computational models of the molecular determinants of motion. The speaker will also explore force measurement at the whole muscle level with simultaneous measurements at the micrometer and nanometer scales. Additionally the speaker uses high speed, time-resolved, small angle x-ray diffraction to reveal real-time dynamics of the molecular players associated with force generation and energy storage.
About the speaker
Prof Tom Daniel received his BS and MS from University of Wisconsin and his PhD in Duke University. He has been a faculty member in the University of Washington (UW) since his initial appointment in 1984 and was the founding chair of the Department of Biology at UW from 2000 to 2008. Prior to working at the UW, he was the Bantrell Postdoctoral Fellow in Engineering Sciences at the California Institute of Technology. He is currently the Komen Endowed Chair of Biology, Professor of Neuroscience, and Adjunct Professor of Bioengineering. He is also the co-Director of the UW Institute of Neuroengineering and the Director of the Air Force Center of Excellence on Nature-Inspired Flight Technologies.
Prof Daniel received several awards including the MacArthur “Genius” Award, the Guggenheim Fellowship, and the Awards for Teaching and Mentoring at UW. He is on the editorial board of the Science Magazine, and is also on the Board of Directors and the Scientific Advisory Board of the Allen Institute of Brain Science. He has been a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science since 2012.
Prof Daniel’s research programs focus on biomechanics and sensory systems, addressing questions about the physics, engineering and neural control of movement in biology.
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