Single-molecule optical-tweezers
Using single-molecule optical-tweezers we catch and manipulate individual molecules of DNA. We use integrated confocal microscopy to directly image DNA stained with fluorescent dyes or fluorescently labelled proteins interacting with DNA.
Lambda-phage DNA labelled with Sytox Orange
CRISPR/Cas9 binding at off-target sites when DNA is stretched (Newton et al, 2019)
Watching individual proteins in action
Using optical-tweezers we can directly observe individual proteins interacting with a single piece of DNA in real-time. This allows us to address important questions about the mechanism of DNA-protein interactions.
For example we are able to directly observe binding of the gene-editing protein CRISPR/Cas9, revealing that changes in DNA structure can dramatically increase off-target binding.
Different DNA substrates
As well as using double-stranded DNA we are able to generate a wide variety of different DNA substrates to study specific biological questions. We can use single-stranded DNA and DNA containing stranded gaps, DNA with complex structures such as Holliday junctions, RNA hairpins, and DNA containing different types of DNA damage.
