Outreach Programs

Education Programs Technology Outreach Program International Programs Distinguished Lecturer Series International Center for Materials Research MRL Diversity Fellowship MRL Travel Fellowship

Intern: Jeremy Pett, Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara Mentor: Kim Weirich Faculty Supervisor: Deborah Fygenson Department: Physics

BINDING STRENGTH OF DAE TILE STICKY ENDS

From previous experiments we know that 5 nucleotide DAE tile sticky ends, when part of a tile, melt around 40 degrees Celsius. This, however, is not the melting temperature of a 5 nucleotide long piece of double stranded DNA. Knowing the melting temperature of DAE tile sticky ends when separate from the tile itself is useful in determining the effect tile-tile interaction has on melting temperature. We designed a DNA hairpin that mimics the sticky ends of tiles and found the melting temperature of sticky ends by themselves. This technique allows us to isolate the effect on the binding temperature of the 5 base pair sticky ends and compare it to the binding temperature of the tile as a whole. From this we can determine where energy is stored in specific regions of the DNA tube.

Return to the RISE 2005 project list