Donald Crothers Sterling Professor Emeritus of Chemistry; Professor Emeritus of Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry » Microbiology » B.S. Yale University 1958; B.A. Cambridge University 1960; Ph.D. University of California, San Diego 1963 In our research we seek to understand how the structure, dynamics, and protein binding properties of nucleic acids contribute to their function. Current projects include characterization of the sequence dependence of curvature and flexibility, and the role of these variables in determining the affinity for core histones and regulatory proteins. We also focus on the dynamics of DNA complexes with proteins and other ligands, using NMR and stopped flow methods. Of particular interest is the dependence of the activation energy for DNA bending by proteins on DNA sequence. Baliga, R. and Crothers, D.M. (2000). On the kinetics of distamycin binding to its target sites on duplex DNA. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (USA) 97:7814-7818. Baliga, R., Baird, E.E., Herman, D.M., Melander, C., Dervan, P.B., and Crothers, D.M. (2001). Kinetic consequences of covalent linkage of DNA binding polyamides. Biochemistry 40:3-8.