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A CNS Special Seminar on Förster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET)
Posted November 6, 2009
CNS Special Seminar: Förster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET): From Experiments to Modern Theories
Barry Masters
Department of Biological Engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
November 13, 2009, 11:30am
LISE 303
11 Oxford Street, Cambridge
Abstract:
Förster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) is a useful and a popular spectroscopic technique. Its origins, theoretical foundation, and limitations are critical to its successful implementation by cell biologists. My goal is to articulate these details and to put them into perspective with respect to alternative theoretical models of resonance energy transfer. To achieve these goals I will address the following questions and attempt to present a physical understanding of the experiments, the theories, and their limitations. What experiments gave evidence for nonradiative energy transfer? Howdid physicists and chemists respond to these phenomena and what classical and quantum mechanical models did they formulate? How did these models compare with the experiments? How do I understand Förster’s classical theory of resonance energy transfer? How does one provide an experimental validation of the distance dependence of the rate of resonance energy transfer? What other theories of resonance energy transfer were developed after Förster’s theory?
The Faculty of Arts and Sciences Center for Nanoscale Sysetms (CNS) hosts special seminars on an occasional basis. For more information on this seminar, contact CNS Technical Director Eric Martin (E-mail), or download a seminar flyer.