Since their first demonstration of manipulation and mechanical coiling of a single DNA
molecule, magnetic tweezers have become a popular and widely used single-molecule …

I review single-molecule experiments (SMEs) in biological physics. Recent technological
developments have provided the tools to design and build scientific instruments of high …

Polymer adhesion is ubiquitous in both the natural world and human technology. It is also a
complex multiscale phenomenon, such that the solution of adhesion problems requires a …

The field of microrheology is concerned with how materials store and dissipate mechanical
energy as a function of length scale. Recent developments in the theory and instrumentation …

We introduce magnetic torque tweezers, which enable direct single-molecule
measurements of torque. Our measurements of the effective torsional stiffness C of dsDNA …

A molecular motor is made of either a single macromolecule or a macromolecular complex.
Just like their macroscopic counterparts, molecular motors “transduce” input energy into …

DNA in cells exhibits a supercoiled state in which the double helix is additionally twisted to
form extended intertwined loops called plectonemes. Although supercoiling is vital to many …

RNA plays myriad roles in the transmission and regulation of genetic information that are
fundamentally constrained by its mechanical properties, including the elasticity and …

It has been known for decades that DNA is extremely flexible and polymorphic, but our
knowledge of its accessible conformational space remains limited. Structural data, primarily …

One of the most exciting developments in the field of biological physics in recent years is the
ability to manipulate single molecules and probe their properties and function. Since its …