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THAYAPARAN  PARAMANATHAN

Northeastern University, Boston, USA (2003 - Present)

 

My research at Northeastern is a partial requirement towards my Ph.D. degree. I work with Prof. Mark. C. Williams in his lab as a research assistant beginning May 2005. In our lab we use optical tweezers to investigate DNA-Protein interactions. My main research is a sub category of our lab’s goal, which is to investigate potential cancer and HIV drugs that bind DNA reversibly. By stretching a single DNA molecule with optical tweezers in the presence of drugs we were able to characterize their binding characteristics and kinetics quantitatively.

 

My first project was to probe the threading of binuclear ruthenium complexes, which were very difficult to study with bulk experiments.  By mechanically manipulating the DNA molecule we came across with very interesting results right away, proving experimentally for the first time that these complexes require at least one base pair to be melted to thread through the DNA bases. In addition we have shown that it has 3 orders of higher affinity to DNA than other classical intercalators studied, which is an important characteristic for a drug to inhibit replication.  The second project is to investigate the dual binding character of ActinomycinD (ActD), a drug which is currently used in chemotherapy, but whose mechanism of interaction with nucleic acids is poorly understood.  In our single molecule studies we were able to distinguish multiple binding modes of ActD and were able to quantify their binding parameters and kinetics.

 

University of Jaffna, Jaffna Sri Lanka (1999 - 2003)

 

Although the required research component of physics major is minimal, I have done multiple projects because I was deeply interested in exploring renewable energy sources. Located in a developing country and in a war zone the University of Jaffna didn’t have many financial or technical resources for advance research during my time as a student. The prevalent electric power outage naturally led to research in harvesting solar energy, which is available abundantly for the better part of the year. My major research project involved the design of a solar dryer using locally available material at low cost. The dryer I designed took advantage of the green house effect, and it was the only project that year to secure a “A” grade. I also organized a section for renewable energy sources for the University exhibition, which featured working models of a solar cooker and water heater designed by me.

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