W. E. Moerner

Publication Details

• Internal mechanical response of a polymer in solution.

  Cohen AE, Moerner WE. Phys Rev Lett. 2007; 98 (11): 116001

  We observed single molecules of fluorescently labeled double-stranded (ds) lambda DNA held in an anti-Brownian electrokinetic trap. From the measured density fluctuations we extract the density-density response function of the molecule over times >4.5 ms and distances >250 nm, i.e., how a perturbation in density in one part of the molecule propagates through the rest of the molecule. We find a nonmonotonic radial dependence of the relaxation time. In contrast with earlier measurements on freely diffusing dsDNA, we observe clear signs of internal hydrodynamic interactions.

  PubMedID: 17501066