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IMAGE: Researchers from Freiburg have been able to analyze the precise rate of signal transfer across multiple time scales. view more
Credit: Graphic: Steffen Wolf
Consider for a moment a tree swaying in the wind. How long does it take for the movement of a twig to reach the trunk of the tree? How is this motion actually transmitted through the tree? Researchers at the University of Freiburg are transferring this kind of question to the analysis of proteins - which are the molecular machinery of cells. A team of researchers lead by Prof. Dr. Thorsten Hugel of the Institute of Physical Chemistry, and Dr. Steffen Wolf and Prof. Dr. Gerhard Stock of the Institute of Physics are investigating how the signals that cause structural changes in proteins travel from one site to another. They are also trying to determine how fast these mechanisms take place. Until now, researchers have been unable to analyze the precise rate of signal transfer because it involves many ti