Research in biochemistry comprises the broad area of structure-function relationships in individual macromolecules and their assemblies. Using spectroscopic, enzymological, and biophysical approaches, investigators probe the detailed atomic-level basis for biological activity. Research includes work on protein and nucleic acid folding and design, on enzyme mechanisms, on materials properties of biomolecules, and on the basis for specificity in macromolecular interactions. Particular techniques employed include: Xray crystallography, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), mass spectrometry, light scattering, and fluorescence and absorption spectroscopies. These approaches are generally applied to highly purified proteins and nucleic acids, and their assemblies. Supporting technologies include recombinant DNA and molecular genetics for the construction and expression of macromolecules and their variants, and bioinformatics techniques used to mine the expanding databases of genomic sequence information.
