Computational Biophysics Group

Welcome to the Computational Biophysics Group at the University of Leeds which is a part of the Polymers and Complex Fluids Group within the school of Physics & Astronomy .

The main reserch focus of the group is the study of the dynamic behaviour of proteins and nucleic acids, which are polymers, by use of modelling and simulation techniques. We use state of the art computational methods to model the physical behaviour of biological macromolecules with the ultimate aim of addressing biological questions. As computational models at the atomistic level allow statistical physics and thermodynamics to be combined with models that are chemically accurate, they have huge potential to provide insight into molecular biology that cannot be obtained by experiment alone.

Our current research areas include:

Atomistic molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of DNA circles to understand the role of DNA topology and supercoiling in genetic control.

Using atomistic models of amyloid-like peptide aggregates to investigate the thermodynamics of self-assembly with a focus on amyloid polymorphism; namely how the same peptide sequence can aggregate into fibrils with differing morphologies.

Using molecular simulation to determine the mechanical properties of DNA, RNA and proteins, and how these molecules respond to external factors such as electric fields, increases in temperature or an applied force.

The development of new computational algorithms to expand the range of length and time-scales that can be explored with simulation.