JILA

Colorado’s quantum revolution

Anonymous — Thu, 30 Jun 2022 20:56:24 +0000

Colorado’s quantum revolution Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 06/30/2022 - 14:56

Daniel Strain

For decades, scientists and engineers from Colorado have explored a universe of tiny things in greater and greater detail. Now, their findings are transforming the state into a new Silicon Valley—this time, a Quantum Valley.

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‘She Has the Floor’ series aims to inspire girls to study science

Anonymous — Fri, 01 Oct 2021 06:00:00 +0000

‘She Has the Floor’ series aims to inspire girls to study science Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 10/01/2021 - 00:00

This series, a collaboration between Pretty Brainy and JILA, aims to connect girls and young women with scientists and leaders

Five scientists at the University of Colorado Boulder are planning a series of talks this fall that aim to encourage girls aged 11 and older to study science.

The series, dubbed “She Has the Floor,” bills itself as a way for girls and young women to connect with scientists and leaders to “inspire the next generation of great minds.”

“She Has the Floor” is a Women in STEM Speaker Series and collaboration of Pretty Brainy and JILA, which is a joint institute of �� Boulder and the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

Ann-Marie Madigan, an professor of astrophysical and planetary sciences, is the first speaker in the “She Has the Floor” speaker series.

“Science is about curiosity, cooking up and testing big ideas, making sense of what’s happening around you and doing the coolest work in the universe,” a series announcement states. “Young women scientists just like you are leading the way. Listen to their stories—how they got started, how they stuck with their passion and how their work makes a difference every day.”

“Find out how girls and women are crushing science and leading lives as scientists and leaders. It may be just the thing you were meant to do,” a series flier adds.

The series’ first presentation is Tuesday, Oct. 5, at 4:30 p.m. and is titled “Something Odd Is Happening in Outer Space.” The talk will be given by Ann-Marie Madigan, assistant professor of astrophysical and planetary sciences at �� Boulder.

The 20-minute Zoom presentation, which participants may register for at this link, is free, but a $5 donation is suggested.

Madigan is a theoretical astrophysicist who explores the dynamics of stars and gas around supermassive black holes, dark matter in galaxies and the icy worlds of the outer solar system. Born in Dublin, she was one of the first students in Ireland to receive an undergraduate degree in astronomy (at the University of Ireland, Galway).

She received her PhD in astronomy from Leiden University in The Netherlands and was a NASA Einstein Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley.

On Nov. 3 at 4:30 p.m., Olivia Krohn, a PhD student in physics at �� Boulder, will give a presentation titled “Experimental Skills and the Amazing Chemistry of Outer Space.”

Krohn studies molecular collisions in cold, low-pressure environments. This work combines her interest in investigating the fundamental dynamics of molecular reactions and investigating chemistry that occurs in space.

Krohn received her BS in physics at California State University, Fresno. Her undergraduate graduating cohort was so small that, at graduation, Olivia was the only female to receive a bachelor’s degree in physics.

On Nov. 16 at 4:30 p.m., Rebecca Hirsh, a graduate student in physical chemistry, will discuss “The Link Between Molecules in Space and Life on Earth.”

Hirsh, a member of the Weber Research Group at JILA, will delve into the learning, processes, outcomes and other experiences of her work on cold, gaseous organic molecules from the depth of outer space and how these molecules may have played a part in the origins of life on our planet.

Event Details

What: She Has the Floor, 20-Minute Talks for Girls Age 11+

When: Fall Series Begins Oct. 5, each at 4:30 p.m. MDT

Where: Zoom

On Nov. 30 at 4:30 p.m., Beth Kroger, JILA’s chief of operations and staff, will discuss “The Importance of Perseverance.”

Kroger graduated from Dakota Wesleyan University with a BA in business management and from the University of South Dakota with an MBA. She was selected as an inaugural Thrivent Fellow for leadership, taught leadership at the college level, studied academic leadership at Harvard University and has given numerous talks on leadership.

Before joining JILA, Beth worked in private colleges and public universities, primarily as a vice president for finance and administration. She has a passion for people and doing what she can to support and encourage the discovery and development of each person’s unique gifts, skills and talents.

And on Dec. 14 at 4:30 p.m., Kenna Castleberry, JILA science communications officer, will discuss “How to Fail Forward: ‘No’ Is Not a Scary Word.”

Castleberry holds an MSc in science communication from Imperial College London. Her work allows her to interview and showcase the various voices within JILA and their work, especially in the world of quantum computing.

Castleberry is also a freelance writer for OctoNation and works on several science freelance projects, including two podcasts. One of her podcasts, From the Biblio-Files, offers exclusive interviews with popular science writers discussing their books. She has also partnered with The Quantum Daily, a quantum computing and quantum industry start-up that works to make quantum science more accessible to a public audience.

This series, a collaboration between Pretty Brainy and JILA, aims to connect girls and young women with scientists and leaders

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Two �� Boulder scientists named AAAS fellows

Anonymous — Tue, 24 Nov 2020 21:42:51 +0000

Two �� Boulder scientists named AAAS fellows Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 11/24/2020 - 14:42

Anthropologist J. Terrence McCabe and physicist Konrad Lehnert recognized for advancing science or its applications

A University of Colorado Boulder anthropologist studying people in East Africa and a physicist advancing quantum science have been named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the group announced today.

J. Terrence McCabe, professor of anthropology, and Konrad Lehnert, professor adjoint of physics at �� Boulder, are among 489 members recognized this year for their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications.

At the top of the page: Turkana women prepare the fields to make them ready before the floods come (Loes van der Pluijm/Wikimedia Commons). Above: J. Terrence McCabe in the rangelands of East Africa.

McCabe, who also directs the Environment and Society Program at the university’s Institute of Behavioral Science, was recognized for “distinguished contributions to anthropology, particularly for understanding how people adapt to arid rangelands of East Africa, and how they cope with changing socioeconomic conditions.”

McCabe joined the �� Boulder faculty in 1989 and is the author of two books on the Turkana people of Africa: South Turkana Nomadism: Coping with an Unpredictably Varying Environment and Cattle Bring Us to Our Enemies: Turkana Ecology, History, and Raiding in a Disequilibrium System.

Cattle Bring Us to Our Enemies won the 2005 Julian Steward Award from the Anthropology and Environment Society for the best book in ecological and environmental anthropology.

McCabe said the recognition “means a lot to me.” He noted that he’s taken a “somewhat unusual path” for a cultural anthropologist.

“Throughout my career I have participated in interdisciplinary teams of anthropologists, ecologists, geographers and other scientists. Most of this work has focused on how people in the rangelands of East Africa have adapted and coped with rapid and often unpredictable climatic, environmental, social and political change,” McCabe said, adding:

“I have learned a lot from my colleagues, and even more from the African people who have let me into their lives and have given generously of their time and incredible knowledge of the ecosystems in which they live.”

Lehnert, who is also a fellow at JILA, a joint institute of �� Boulder and the U.S. National Institute of Standards & Technology, was recognized for “pioneering contributions to quantum science, particularly quantum control and measurement of mechanical oscillators, and sub-quantum limited measurement with applications to dark matter searches.”

Konrad Lehnert is among the 489 members recognized this year by the AAAS.

Lehnert joined the �� Boulder and JILA faculty in 2003 after having served as a postdoctoral research associate at the Yale University Applied Physics Department. He was named a fellow of the American Physical Society in 2013 and, with fellow �� Boulder physicist Cindy Regal, won the Governor’s Award for High-Impact Research in 2016.

This year, Lehnert was one of eight scientists to win a Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship from the U.S. Department of Defense. The award carries $3 million for each winner to pursue cutting-edge fundamental research projects, and Lehnert's focus is quantum phononic sciences.

Asked for his reaction to being named an AAAS fellow, Lehnert said: “I think of the fellowship as recognizing of the accomplishments of the more than 40 students, post-docs and visiting scientists who have come from around the world to advance science by studying and working with me at the University of Colorado.”

Founded in 1848, the AAAS is the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the journal Science, as well as Science Translational Medicine; Science Signaling; a digital, open-access journal, Science Advances; Science Immunology; and Science Robotics.

Election as an AAAS fellow is an honor bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers. McCabe and Lehnert are among 45 �� Boulder active faculty to hold this distinction.

A virtual fellows forum—an induction ceremony for the new fellows—will be held on Feb. 13, 2021.

The tradition of AAAS fellows began in 1874. Currently, members can be considered for the rank of fellow if nominated by the steering groups of the association’s 24 sections, or by any three fellows who are current AAAS members (so long as two of the three sponsors are not affiliated with the nominee’s institution), or by the AAAS chief executive officer.

The lifetime designation of “fellow” has gone to thousands of distinguished scientists, such as inventor Thomas Edison, elected in 1878, sociologist W. E. B. Du Bois (1905), anthropologist Margaret Mead (1934), computer scientist Grace Hopper (1963), physicist Steven Chu (2000) and astronaut Ellen Ochoa (2012).

Anthropologist J. Terrence McCabe and physicist Konrad Lehnert recognized for advancing science or its applications.

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Scientists open new window into the nanoworld

Anonymous — Tue, 28 Jul 2020 17:08:25 +0000

Scientists open new window into the nanoworld Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 07/28/2020 - 11:08

�� Boulder researchers have used ultra-fast extreme ultraviolet lasers to measure the properties of materials more than 100 times thinner than a human red blood cell.

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�� Boulder lab works to bring quanta out of the cold

Anonymous — Wed, 28 Aug 2019 03:01:55 +0000

�� Boulder lab works to bring quanta out of the cold Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 08/27/2019 - 21:01

New technique from �� Boulder researchers could free quantum technology from cold temperatures

Research on quantum states of matter could be conducted at room temperatures, thus facilitating cheaper and more widely available quantum technologies, research at the University of Colorado Boulder suggests.

Graduate student Molly May aligns optics in the scanning probe apparatus that controls the quantum dot emission. Photo courtesy of Molly May. At the top of the page is an artist's illustration of tip-enhanced strong coupling for room temperature quantum technologies. Credit: Steven Burrows/JILA.

“This is exploratory research on quantum emitter put into novel very tiny optical nano-cavities. It allows for controlling quantum states even at room temperature which can create a wider range of quantum platforms and broader accessibility,” said Markus Raschke, �� Boulder professor of physics and JILA fellow.

“We are extending the application space of quantum technologies into more real world applications, operating even under ambient conditions, from sensing to new chemistry, which is really exciting,”

“Typically, quantum physics and tailored light-matter interactions requires ultracold, ultrahigh vacuum, very pristine conditions,” added Molly May, a JILA graduate student in the Raschke group, who explained why room-temperature quantum state control is important:

“If we want to use these technologies more broadly, it's so much cheaper, and would find so much wider use, if we were able to do it in your lab or your office or even your living room.”

Results of the research, which was done in collaboration with researchers at the University of Maryland, were published recently in the journal Science Advances.

Quantum research in ultracold conditions—near absolute zero—is important as quantum technologies are probed and developed.

But Earth is a warm place. “We live in a heat bath,” May joked, expounding on the basics of quantum research:

Despite their small size, atoms have the ability to carry and transfer information, which makes them a promising platform for quantum sensing, metrology and information processing.

However, artificial atoms in the form of “quantum dots" can also encode such information, andthe information in those quantum dots can equally be controlled with light, May explained.

But quantum dots and atoms tend to lose the information rapidly to their surroundings, so one has to operate on them quickly and precisely. That typically means working in extremely cold temperatures. Extremely cold temperatures “freeze” the atoms, reducing their interaction with their environment—which makes them easier to work with and control.

But if controlling and working with atoms is restricted to cold temperatures, that would make it harder to take advantage of their quantum properties for wider range of applications outside of very specialized labs, added Raschke.

Writing on a nanoscale

The Raschke group works with quantum dots that are about 8 nanometers across, more than 1,000 times smaller than a human hair, but still much bigger compared to atoms.

Markus Raschke, physics professor and JILA fellow, project principal investigator.

Writing information on a quantum dot involves changing its energy level from its ground state to an excited state. And photons—tiny packets of energy that make up light—can do that when they strongly interact or couple with the quantum state.

When we saw the first data, they were almost too good to be true. We almost did not believe the results and thought something had gone wrong, some artifact, something is fooling us.”

But compared to the size of the quantum dots or atoms, visible light has a very long wavelength, almost a hundred times larger than the quantum dot. As a result, it has a very weak interaction with the quantum dot.

The other problem is, that over time, the movement and coupling of an atom or quantum dot knocks its excitation out of phase with the light field. That phase decoherence causes the atom to lose its information to the surrounding environment.

There are two ways to work around this. One option is to work in high vacuum and at ultra-cold temperatures, usually around a few micro-Kelvin, to reduce the chances of this phase decoherence.

The new approach, as pursued by the Raschke group, is to squeeze the light into a very small space, much smaller than its wavelength, in fact comparable to the size of the quantum dot. Using nanoscale optical antennas made by metallic nanostructures, you can create such an optical nano-cavity, squeezing the light into exceedingly small dimensions. Then almost magically, the coupling becomes strong and fast, faster than the loss of the information you try to write, May explained.

But those cavities are static. You either hit the quantum dot or you don’t, May explained. “Even when you get lucky and find a quantum dot, you cannot tune the cavity or control the interaction,” she added.

Some like it hot

To work at room temperature and control the quantum state, May looked at an optical scanning probe technique, a technique already used at JILA that uses needle-like gold tip, as a tool to compress, or nano-focus, the light into the tiny space of only 10 nanometer in size at the tip of the needle, and as needed to get strong interaction with the quantum dot.

When she shines light onto the gold tip, it focuses it into that nsmall region at the tip apex, creating an optical nanocavity with the quantum dot sample positioned between the tip and a flat gold mirror.

“It works like the antenna in your phone, just for light. The tip nano-cavity collects the light that we shine on it and focuses it to a tiny spot,” May said.

The scanning probe microscope now provides the advantage that the tip can move around. So May can position the tip near the quantum dot with atomic precision. And when strong coupling sets in at very short distances between the tip and the quantum dot, the tip and the dot exchange information really well, tossing photons back and forth like ping-pong, May explained.

“As we come closer and closer to the quantum dot, we see that the coupling kind of kicks in,” May said. “I was actually impressed by how well it works. And, that really hasn't been done before. We can really optimize, control, and image the interaction.”

Raschke was surprised by the results. “When you do a new experiment in science, you don’t want to put your hopes too high that it would actually work as you envision, to limit your disappointment when it doesn’t. But when we saw the first data, they were almost too good to be true. We almost did not believe the results and thought something had gone wrong, some artifact, something is fooling us,” he said. “It was truly exhilarating when we saw the signal for the first time and gradually convinced ourselves it is real.”

Static cavities are like a picture—you may get some interaction but you can’t turn a knob to control it, making it of very limited utility. Now it is like in a movie. That strong-coupling effect using the tip lets May and her fellow researchers tune, control, and image the interaction with the quantum dot in real time and space. Pull the tip back, by a distance of even just one atom diameter, and the signal gets weaker. Push it closer, and the signal gets stronger.

Free from the fridge

Being able to write and read the energy level of a single quantum dot or atom using light is an enabling step for several emerging quantum technologies, like metrology and sensing tools. And breaking out of the ultra-cold regimes could help bring these tools out of the lab for wider applications, the team said.

The new method of cavity nano-optics won’t get rid of the need for research and technologies at low temperature because of other important virtues, Raschke clarified. But this finding expands quantum science and technology into new regimes at room temperature with complementary benefits. It also serves as a new tool to provide fundamental insight into how quantum information is lost in interacting environments, which can help optimize quantum systems more broadly.

Their paper was published in Science Advances on July 12.

New technique from �� Boulder and JILA researchers could free quantum technology from cold temperatures.

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Honoring a visionary, lost too soon

Anonymous — Mon, 25 Mar 2019 19:13:17 +0000

Honoring a visionary, lost too soon Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 03/25/2019 - 13:13

Clay Bonnyman Evans

New endowed fund will support physics fellowships in honor of the late Deborah Jin

In 2001, Carl Wieman and Eric Cornell became the second and third — of five, to date — faculty members at the University of Colorado Boulder to receive the Nobel Prize, for their work in creating a Bose-Einstein condensate.

Deborah Jin in her laboratory and (above) during a �� Wizards presentation. Photos by Glenn Asakawa and Casey A. Cass.

Until she died of cancer at the tragically young age of 47 in 2016, many Nobel handicappers had put their money on Deborah Jin to become �� Boulder’s next laureate, thanks to her groundbreaking work in creating a fermionic condensate — a feat even more challenging than creating the Bose-Einstein condensate.

“A lot, lot harder,” Wieman answered a reporter from the New York Times when asked to compare Jin’s achievement to his Nobel-recognized work. “What did come out was more impressive than I thought would be possible.”

“There’s that classic saying that dancer Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, but backwards, and in heels,” says Patricia Rankin, professor of physics at �� Boulder. “That’s what Debbie did with the fermionic condensate.”

Jin’s “visionary and methodical approach made it possible to use these ultracold gases as model systems to tease out the quantum principles that lead to behaviors in real materials, such as superconductivity,”according to the journal Nature.

But Jin, professor of physics and fellow of JILA — a joint institute between the university and the National Institute for Science and Technology — didn’t just hide away in the lab. She had a rich family life, raising a daughter with her husband, JILA physicist John Bohn. She cared for and challenged her students, both in and out of the classroom, and was known as a tireless mentor and champion of women in science.

To honor her legacy, the �� Boulder College of Arts & Sciences has created the Deborah Jin Endowed Graduate Fellowships Fund, which will fully support the work and mentorship of two graduate scholars in physics each semester, starting in 2020.

The initial goal is to raise $1 million for this endowment. With gifts from the Heising Simons Foundation, the Chancellor’s Office and JILA, the physics department has raised $700,000. Wieman and his wife, Sarah Gilbert, would like to bring this to $800,000. They have pledged another $50,000 as a challenge to encourage others to contribute.

Debbie Jin embodied the highest ideals in physical science, and we hope to support and inspire others who might emulate her.”
—James W.C. White, interim dean

To date, faculty and other supporters have donated more than $26,000 toward Wieman’s and Gilbert’s $50,000 matching gift, according to �� Boulder’s Office of Advancement.

“This endowment honors a consummate, exemplary scientist whom we lost too soon,” says James W.C. White, interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. “Debbie Jin embodied the highest ideals in physical science, and we hope to support and inspire others who might emulate her.”

In addition, the college will provide annual support as needed to ensure that the fellowships will fully cover awardees’ tuition costs for an entire semester.

Awardees will be chosen based on their graduate-school application materials, except for scores on the GRE (Graduate Record Examination), which are “known to disadvantage applicants from under-represented groups,” according to White.

How to help

To contribute to the Deborah Jin Fellowships, contact Jane Marsh in the �� Boulder Office of Advancement at jane.marsh@colorado.edu or 303-541-1444. You can also contribute online.

Preference will be given to applicants “who represent the spirit of Deborah Jin and have demonstrated a commitment to … serving their community and/or family and … breaking barriers for underserved or underrepresented populations in the larger Physics community.”

“We want to honor Debbie Jin’s legacy as one of the pioneering women physicists of her time by bringing people into physics with the promise to follow in her footsteps,” Rankin says. “We have a really good physics department, and by paying attention to the need to broaden participation and perspectives, we will help direct the future of the field.”

US News & World Report ranks �� Boulder’s Physics Department as 14^thbest in the world, including second-best in atomic/molecular/optical physics and sixth in quantum physics. The international Shanghai Ranking Consultancy ranks the department as the world’s 12^thbest.

New endowed fund will support physics fellowships in honor of the late Deborah Jin.

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Physics lands $75.8M award to fund students, postdocs to work at NIST labs

Anonymous — Thu, 22 Feb 2018 23:55:32 +0000

Physics lands $75.8M award to fund students, postdocs to work at NIST labs Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 02/22/2018 - 16:55

Clay Bonnyman Evans

PREP will deliver benefits to students, department and university

The University of Colorado Boulder Department of Physics has received a $75.8 million award from the National Institute of Standards and Technology to continue the collaborative Professional Research Experience Program (PREP) through 2022, the department has announced.

Started in 1994, the PREP program provides funding for undergraduate and graduate students in physics and other departments to work with researchers at NIST’s Boulder laboratories on cutting-edge projects, including new atomic clocks, precision quantum measurement, international measurement standards, new laser applications, GPS technology and more. Some 800 �� students and post-doctoral assistants have participated in the program to date.

John Cumalat and Paul Beale

“We are very excited to announce the five-year renewal of PREP,” said Paul Beale, professor of physics, and John Cumalat, chair of the physics department, in a joint statement.

Cumalat proposed expanding and moving PREP, previously administered by �� Career Services, to physics last year. Russell Moore, provost and executive vice chancellor for academic affairs, and Kelly Fox, senior vice chancellor and chief financial officer, signed off on the idea and PREP was relocated to physics on July 1. In August, Beale and Cumalat wrote and submitted their $75.8 million proposal, a 25-percent increase over the previous five-year award.

Taking over the program will result in numerous benefits to the department. Moving PREP to physics will help the department support the research mission of the institution. PREP is also expected to help the department recruit top graduate and undergraduate students.

“With over 700 undergraduate majors and over 240 graduate students in our PhD program, �� physics has become one of the largest and best physics programs in the United States. PREP will continue to be one of the keys to our success,” Cumalat said.

The five-year award will fund participation by 30 full-time graduate students, 20 undergraduates, 10 “academic affiliates” with bachelor’s or master’s degrees and 75 post-doctorate assistants each year.

“Students have often stated that their experiences at NIST were one of the major highlights of their education,” Beale and Cumalat wrote in their proposal. “NIST researchers have praised student contributions to their laboratories.”

“The renewal includes a new program that provides for bachelor’s and master’s degree graduates to participate in PREP, which will allow NIST scientists to recruit top young researchers to work as technical staff members at NIST after graduation,” Cumalat said.

“We believe that many of our best undergraduate PREP researchers will be recruited by NIST scientists to continue working in their labs after graduation,” Cumalat said.

�� Boulder's Department of Physics has received a $75.8 million award from the National Institute of Standards and Technology to continue the collaborative Professional Research Experience Program through 2022.

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New JILA atomic clock can outperform all predecessors

Anonymous — Tue, 10 Oct 2017 14:57:45 +0000

New JILA atomic clock can outperform all predecessors Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 10/10/2017 - 08:57

Physicists have created an atomic clock that reaches the same level of precision as its predecessors but is more than 20 times faster, promising dramatically improved measurements and more.

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Unwinding the mysteries of protein folding

Anonymous — Thu, 02 Mar 2017 17:41:00 +0000

Unwinding the mysteries of protein folding Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 03/02/2017 - 10:41

Jeff Thomas

Tom Perkins and JILA team unfold proteins with precise new instrumentation

Unwinding an individual single-molecule composed of a helical string of amino acids stitched through the boundary of a cell—while measuring the force and time that takes—seems to be a fairly tall order in itself. But that wasn’t enough for University of Colorado Boulder researcher Tom Perkins, who spent the last seven years improving the techniques needed to exactly understand the steps needed to unfold these proteins.

“What we achieved is a 10-fold increase in force precision, and a 100-fold increase in time resolution,” said Perkins, a professor of molecular cellular and developmental biology and also a fellow at JILA, �� Boulder’s partnership with the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

“Now we can see 14 intermediate steps in the unfolding process, whereas previously measurements only saw two; in short, we were missing about 85 percent of the intermediate steps.”

Of course, creating that precision took a lot of effort to improve the atomic-force microscope used in the research. Specifically, the JILA research team developed modified cantilevers—a microscopic diving-board-like structure—that is used to pull out the helix structure of the protein.

NIST/JILA biophysicist Tom Perkins, also a �� Boulder faculty member, used this atomic force microscope to measure protein folding in more detail than ever before. Photo courtesy of NIST/C. Suplee.

However, Perkins’ JILA team, led by co-first authors Hao Yu and Matthew Siewny, apparently pulled out a plum, landing the research – “Hidden dynamics in the unfolding of individual bacteriorhodopsin proteins”—in the March 3 edition of Science.

“We made a set of three improvements to the AFM cantilevers” documented in three previous papers, Perkins said. “What you see in this paper led by Hao and Matt is really a capstone of everything we’ve done.”

These improvements included modifying a commercial AFM cantilever with a tool of nanoscience, the focused-ion-beam mill, to essentially sandblast the cantilever with atoms to modify its shape. Of course, underlying all of it was the team’s firm belief that the research of the last 17 years simply didn’t have the time resolution to document all of the protein dynamics that occur over times much shorter than a millisecond and, hence, were hidden in previous studies.

Essentially, biophysicists look at the forces needed to unwind these proteins to better understand the process of folding. In particular, the researchers studied a membrane protein bacteriorhodopsin, which lives at the boundary between the inside and outside of the cell. When expressed by mRNA, these strings of amino acids are essentially one-dimensional; it’s not until they start winding up into coils, or helices, that they assume their functional three-dimensional form.

Proteins that fail to fold correctly will probably be inactive or potentially toxic to the cell. But Perkins said understanding the complexity of protein folding will also create more useful computer models of membrane proteins and potentially create more efficient drug discovery.

“These types of experiments provide more details on the energetics of the membrane proteins,” he said. “If we do that well, then perhaps our colleagues can better predict how drugs binding on the outside of cells lead to a signal on the inside.” The complexity for membrane proteins is that they fold in an environment consisting of water and oil, a so-called lipid bilayer, similar in structure to a soap bubble.

Despite their efforts to improve the AFM instrument, it remains very difficult to create a strong-enough bond between the cantilever and the protein to make the measurement.

“We’re working on that right now,” Perkins said. “The success rate is about 1 percent of the time, but when it works, it has incredible results.”

Tom Perkins and JILA team unfold proteins with precise new instrumentation, illuminate 85 percent of previously unknown steps.

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$24 million NSF grant to establish imaging science center

Anonymous — Mon, 26 Sep 2016 18:26:57 +0000

$24 million NSF grant to establish imaging science center Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 09/26/2016 - 12:26

�� Boulder will expand its role as a national leader in imaging, materials, nano, bio and energy sciences as part of a collaborative partnership awarded $24 million by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to launch a new center.

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JILA

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Tom Perkins and JILA team unfold proteins with precise new instrumentation

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