Single-Molecule Biophysics
Department of Biophysics and Biophysical Chemistry, School of Medicine
Departments of Biophysics and Physics & Astronomy, Krieger School of Arts and Sciences
Department of Biomedical Engineering, Whiting School of Engineering
Taekjip Ha is a world leader in single-molecule biology and intracellular imaging who is known for advancing physics-based techniques for detecting and manipulating individual molecules and applying them to complex biological systems. In particular, he focuses on DNA transactions such as copying and maintaining of genetic materials, and production of protein machineries that guard against the threat of cancer and infectious disease.
Ha combines state-of-the-art biophysical manipulation techniques with ultrasensitive fluorescence imaging to mechanically perturb protein, RNA, and DNA molecules and measure their responses. His approaches allow him to decipher innate properties of single molecules and how they interact with other molecules. Ha strives to emulate or work within natural cellular environments while studying single molecules, testing diverse protein-DNA and protein-protein interactions at unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution.
Ha joined Johns Hopkins University as a Bloomberg Distinguished Professor in 2015 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.