David Swigon

Research Associate

Department of Chemistry

My research interests lie in the area of computational molecular bioengineering and bioinformatics, with a focus on the relation between the sequence, mechanical properties, and biological function of intracellular components. I am developing micromechanical models of DNA and protein elasticity and plasticity that that combine atomic-scale and continuum mechanics approaches with recent advances in computational chemistry and employ information obtained by X-ray crystallography, single-molecule manipulation, and other experimental techniques. My research program is oriented towards computational modeling of complex macromolecular assemblies and the application of mechanical principles in the study of molecular biological processes. I concentrate on bioengineering applications such as (i) the analysis of the relation between the function and deformability of RNA polymerase and subsequent design of artificial transcription factors and drugs that control gene expression by altering DNA mechanics, (ii) the use of transcriptional assembly kinetics in the analysis of gene regulatory networks, (iii) the application of DNA conformational principles in the identification of transcription regulatory sites and promoters in genomic sequences, and (iv) the design and analysis of DNA-based nanomechanical devices.

For more details see the list of my research activities or a short presentation.