Nucleoprotein machines carry out synthesis, modification, and repair of DNA and RNA. Our nanomedicine development center focuses on a model nucleoprotein machine that carries out non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) of DNA double strand breaks. This machine has a simple structure and significant clinical relevance.
Our interdisciplinary team includes experts in the cell and molecular biology of DNA damage repair, protein tagging and targeting, nanostructured probes, cryo-electron microscopy, signal-cell imaging, quantitative image analysis and computational biology, and light microscopy instrumentation.
Our long-term vision is to provide cures for common human diseases based on the ability to manipulate DNA and RNA on a nanometer scale.

Our goals include
	Development of orthogonal protein tagging strategies and novel fluorescent probes including quantum dot bioconjugates
	In vitro single-molecule studies of the core NHEJ machine
	In vivo studies of nanomachine assembly and disassembly in live cells
	Quantitative studies at nanometer resolution in fixed cells.
	Establishment of engineering principles underlying nucleoprotein machine design.

This Center is part of the US National Institutes of Health Roadmap Initiative. It will complement seven other centers that focus on mechanical biology, signaling and motility, nanoconductors, protein  folding,  optical control of biological function, cyto-networks, and nanomotors.
 

Director Gang Bao, PhD Department of Biomedical Engineering Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University

Associate Director William S. Dynan PhD Institute of Molecular Medicine and Genetics Medical College of Georgia