Grant: Research Tools and Instruments - Category 1 (<$150,000)

The availability of whole genome sequence information has equipped scientists with blueprints that encode the complement of factors that distinguish one organism from another. When translated from this genetic material into biomolecules, these factors interact in a precise, yet dazzling fashion, to perpetuate life or elicit pathogenesis. Central to many of these processes are proteins. Proteins are dynamic molecules that perform fundamental roles that range from providing structural support, to the conversion of molecules as enzymes during metabolic processes. In order to investigate and characterize the function of proteins, it is frequently useful to relate the molecular properties of proteins such as their size, shape and flexibility to their mechanisms of action. This proposal requests support for the introduction of a dynamic light scattering system that will allow researchers at Wilfrid Laurier University to characterize many of the molecular properties of proteins and other important bioactive molecules. This equipment will support biochemical and material scientist research groups seeking to characterize the dynamic structural properties of proteins, polymers, micelles, carbohydrates, and nanoparticles in solution. Additionally, not only will this opportunity support the introduction of a critical molecular characterization tool, but that it will also support the initiation of several more advanced structural characterization methods.