Our lab at the University of Toronto seeks to understand the role of biomechanics on genome function, most notably, how the organization, packaging and conformational dynamics of DNA affect gene expression. We develop and employ a unique complement of single-molecule instruments for force-spectroscopy and single-molecule localization microscopy (SMLM). Force-spectroscopy enables us to probe the biophysical mechanisms underlying protein-DNA interactions, while SMLM reveals information on the spatial organization, abundance and dynamics of proteins and nucleic acids, within both bacteria and eukaryotic cells, at an unprecedented level of detail.

What's Happening

(05/15/19): Daniel's paper on "Nanoscopic Stoichiometry and Single-Molecule Counting" was just accepted to Small Methods. A preprint is available here.

(05/05/19): New summer ROP research students Victoria, Eric and Muhammed just started working in the lab.

(04/9/19): Jovana Miladinovic was awarded a University of Toronto Excellence Award (UTEA) to work in the lab over the summer.

(02/24/19): Nafiseh's manuscript "Growth Phase Dependent Chromosome Condensation and H-NS Protein Redistribution in E. coli Under Osmotic Stress" is now available as a preprint online.

(02/01/19): We're looking for a new Ph.D. or M.S. student to start in the Fall. If you're interested in applying single-molecule super-resolved microscopy to dissect the inner workings of bacteria, please contact us.

(01/20/19): Daniel Nino and Daniel Djayakarsana's manuscript "Nanoscopic Stoichiometry and Single-Molecule Counting" .