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| Biological Large Scale Integration |
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SPEAKER:
Stephen Quake
Professor of Bioengineering and Applied Physics;
Co-Chair, Department of Bioengineering;
Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
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ABOUT THE LECTURE:
Though Stephen Quake’s research is confined to the smallest of scales, his achievements have already made a large impact on the study of biology. Quake’s area of microfluidics involves fabricating tiny devices akin to those a plumber uses, but useful on the molecular level. Quake modestly describes his “plumbing tools” as “very simple stuff, not rocket science,” but these mini valves and chambers, which enable him to manipulate the behaviors of fluids in minute volumes, are already proving useful in some of the toughest problems of bioscience.
Quake has fashioned microfluidic technology to analyze DNA sequences in a large-scale way, and to determine protein structure. Borrowing from computer engineering, Quake uses nanoliter amounts of fluids on chips in order to grow protein crystals. These new methods allow for much finer control and manipulation of protein crystal growth than conventional structural biology methods. His lab has figured out not only how to tie single DNA molecules into knots, but how to sequence them. Confronting the limits of conventional microscopy, Quake’s lab “stumbled upon the discovery of small colloidal particles that act as microlenses.” These tiny beads concentrate light and provide a “higher effective aperture, which works phenomenally well.” Now as they automate their miniature DNA and protein factories for mass production, they can observe their work in real time.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
Stephen Quake's interests lie at the nexus of physics, biology, and biotechnology. His research is concerned with developing new forms of biological automation and applying these tools to problems of biological and medical interest. Areas of interest include structural genomics, systems biology, microbial ecology, and nanoliter-scale synthetic chemistry.
Quake received his B.S. and M.S. from Stanford University, and his Ph.D. from the University of Oxford in Physics. He earned the 2004 NIH Director's Pioneer Award, and was among MIT Tech Review's 100 Young Innovators that Will Create the Future. He was a Packard Foundation Fellow in 1999.
Quake's Stanford website
NOTES ON THE VIDEO (Time Index):
Video length is 1:05:37.
Jeffrey Shapiro, Director of the Research Lab of Electronics, opens the colloquium. He hands off to Joel Voldman, NBX Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, who introduces Stephen Quake.
At 6:27, Quake begins.
At 58:07, Quake invites questions.
The information on this page was accurate as of the day the video was added to MIT World. This video was added to MIT World on 2007-06-04.
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