The complete biochemical understanding of several processes in Biology requires bridging the gaps between studies at the different levels; organisms, tissues, cells, membranes, and single molecules. To this end, studies of biophysics at the individual molecule level are demanding new integrated approaches leading to a complete picture containing all the different perspectives: spatial resolution at the nanoscale, energetics of the processes, and (ultrafast) dynamics taking place.
The field of single-molecule biophysics has experienced a boom in the last decades. Not only developments in optical microscopy and spectroscopy have allowed circumventing the diffraction limit and studying biological details with high resolution, but nanoscience tools such as Scanning Probe Microscopies (SPM) have paved the way for biophysical studies at the single-molecule level. I aim to integrate approaches in SPM, bioelectronics, and spectroscopy with the last advances in nanoscience to establish a two-way translational research platform.
The Biosystems I study include:
Proteins and protein complexes, including antibodies.
Nucleic acids, including DNA and RNA.
Besides studying biophysics at the single-molecule level, I use these results for the development of sensors for a variety of applications.