PHYSICAL MATHEMATICS SEMINAR



TOPIC:	MECHANICS OF DNA PACKING IN VIRUSES



SPEAKER:	JANÉ KONDEV
		Physics Department
		Brandeis University


ABSTRACT:

Viruses self-assemble inside the host cell which they have infected. 
For bacterial viruses, an important part of the self-assembly process 
is the packaging of the viral DNA, which is tens of microns long, into 
the viral capsid, a protein shell only thirty or so nanometers in diameter. 
This amazing feat is accomplished with the assistance of a protein machine, 
which, recent experiments have shown, can exert large forces in excess 
of 50pN on the DNA being packaged.

In this talk I will review the physics of DNA packaging in viruses, and present 
a theoretical model which accounts for the measured forces and provides 
predictions for a new generation of experiments.	




TUESDAY, MAY 11, 2004
2:30 pm
Building 2, Room 338

Refreshments will be served at 3:30 PM in Room 2-349

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Mathematics
Cambridge, MA  02139