Physics of Living Systems/Soft Matter Seminar Speaker: Dr. Yong Wang/University of Arkansas Host: Prof. Harold Kim

Abstract: The motions of individual bacteria and single proteins are not only biological vital for bacterial survival and adaptation but also physically interesting due to their active-matter nature and constant interactions and exchange with the environment. In this presentation, we will discuss the molecular diffusion of proteins in live bacteria at the single-molecule level, exploring the temperature dependence of protein diffusion and the validity of Stokes-Einstein relation in living systems. Additionally, we will discuss our recent findings on bacterial motility at the single-cell level, examining how environmental stresses and complexities, such as exposure to silver ions and nanoparticles and complex geometrical constraints and hydrogel, influence bacterial movement.

 

Bio: Dr. Yong Wang is currently an associate professor of physics at the University of Arkansas. He received his Ph.D. in physics from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2011. After being a postdoctoral associate at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and then the University of Toronto, Dr. Wang became a faculty in the Department of Physics at the University of Arkansas in 2016. Dr. Wang's research interest is single-cell and single-molecule biophysics, at the interface between physics, nanotechnology, biology, and material science. His lab focuses on developing and using super-resolution fluorescence microscopy, other single-molecule and single-cell techniques, and statistical physics and modeling to study various biological systems, including molecular diffusion in living systems, mechanics of biomolecules and cells, antibiotic mechanisms of nanostructures, and motility of microorganisms in complex environments.