The research in the Zhong group is directed to understanding the nature of elementary processes in biological systems and relating dynamics and structures to function in real systems at the most fundamental level, using state-of-the-art femtosecond lasers and molecular biology methods. The laboratory ultimately will have the capability of time resolution from femtosecond to millisecond; biological systems can be prepared and studied at the single molecule level. We are currently focusing on studies of (1) molecular recognition to understand local physical forces by examining local hydration, complex rigidity and conformation dynamics and (2) ultrafast protein dynamics of several important biological systems to elucidate the role of dynamics in structure-dynamics-function correlation and the nature of non-equilibrium biological dynamics by coherent femtosecond laser preparation.

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