2018 Undergraduate Summer Research Program Participant
Home Department: Physics
Mentor: Steven Boxer, Chemistry
Reversibly photoswitchable fluorescent proteins (RSFPs) are glowing proteins that can be turned on and off upon irradiation with specific colors. These proteins have revolutionized super-resolution microscopy and deepened our understanding of cellular biology, but despite their widespread use, we have little experimental data explaining how exactly the chromophores in these proteins turn on and off. Jeffrey aims to elucidate the underlying biophysical mechanism by incorporating modified amino acids into the chromophore structure and observing how photoswitching properties are affected.