Computer simulations of a self-organizing system
The Goodson lab is interested how rules that govern the interactions between individual molecules give rise to higher-order structures and behaviors. We are using computer simulations to study this process across a range of relevant conditions, then analyze these data to identify equations that connect the input biochemical rules to the output structures and behaviors. The specific system we study is a population of dynamic "microtubules", which are biological nanotubes that self-assemble from protein subunits called "tubulin dimers".
We are looking for students who are interested in using quantitative and physical approaches to study complex systems.
Students get to use computers to work at the interface between chemistry, physics, and biology, and study one of the most mysterious processes in nature: emergence, i.e., the process by which novel structures and behaviors result interactions between component parts in a system and do so in a way that is not obviously predictable from the properties of the parts.
Students in this project will study microtubules because of their interesting biophysics, but microtubules have an essential role in cell biology: they act as train tracks for molecular motors inside cells and self organize into the mitotic spindle that separates the chromosomes. Students on this project will do their research with computers and/or pen and paper (e.g., when performing mathematical derivations), but they will have the opportunity to interact with biologists in the lab who are focused on the cell biology of microtubules and their regulation. In some cases, they may work with experimental data acquired by the biologists.