Structural Biology
 Biological
macromolecules are the focus of the Institute's research -
their form, function, interactions and mechanism of
action. Fundamental questions drive our efforts: How
is chemical energy converted into motion in the molecular
motors of muscle? How are the chemical reactions in
our bodies catalyzed by proteins and newly-discovered RNA
enzymes?
Focus
Basic molecular biophysics lies at the heart of these
questions and is the focus of much of our efforts:
investigations into the folding of proteins, assembly into
larger structures, stability and dynamics, characterizing
these properties in model systems. Challenging
frontier areas include characterizations of the
interactions between proteins and membranes, sugars or
nucleic acids.
Computational Biology
 An
understanding of the structure,function and interactions of
molecules is central to much of the Biomedical,
Pharmaceutical and Biomolecular Sciences.
Computational approaches allow the extrapolation from
available experimental data to the study of important
molecular associations and motions that are transient or
otherwise inaccessible to direct experimentation.
Computation also provides the means to test our
understanding of the basic theory of molecular
interactions. Which allows us increasingly to predict the
properties of important Biomolecules.
Mission
The Center establishes a bridge between two strengths at
Florida State University
- Experimental Structural
Biology, and High
Performance Computing. It is the focus of efforts to
build internationally renown programs in research and
training in the application of computational methods to an
understanding how Biomolecules work. This is being achieved
through faculty recruitment and support of common research
resources as well as graduate and post-doctoral research
training programs.
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