Data Sets
Data sets from both the fluorescence microscopy lab and the optical tweezer labs will be linked below. As these files are large, they will only be available for download through February 29th, 2016. If you wish to download these data sets past this date, please send Griffin an email.
Relevant Readings
Fluorescence Microscopy
This paper demonstrates that thermodynamic models can make quantitative predictions about the level of gene expression as a function of repressor copy number and operator strength. In this experiment, we use many of the strains described in this paper.
This is the experimental handout for this lecture. While you are not required to complete the assignment, the questions will serve as good practice for making quantiative biological measurements. This handout corresponds to an experiment taught in an introductory biology lab course at Caltech by Justin Bois and Rob Phillips.
This website is an incredible resource for learning everything from theoretical aspects of light microscopy to interactive tutorials of microscope operation.
Optical Tweezer
This paper reports the first experimental observation of a single-beam force radiation pressure particle trap (in short - an optical tweezer!).
In this experiment YOU will build your own optical tweezer. Check out PBoC pp. 153, and 204-209 for some introductory material on an optical tweezer and calibration of the trap stiffness. You can also watch several interesting videos from Carlos Bustamante at UC Berkeley.