An advanced multi-purpose instrument for biological ultrafast time resolved spectroscopy

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Dynamical processes, including those on the ultrafast timescale, underpin much of the world around us. In biology they contribute to the white noise of vibrational motions inherent to large macromolecules and their environment, and also the 'coloured noise' that can assist or drive structural and biochemical change. Biologists normally consider biological processes on the timescale of seconds, minutes and hours, and examples include protein folding, biological catalysis, signalling, molecular and cellular motions. These processes, however, depend on the behaviour and interaction of electrons and the motions of the molecules/atoms in which they reside. Processes that occur on much faster timescales - typically picosecond to femtosecond timescales - dictate these properties. Crucially, understanding of biological processes requires mechanistic understanding of dynamical changes on the picosecond to femtosecond timescales i.e. with a time resolution of 1,000 million millionths of a second. This requires the development of specialised ultrafast laser spectrometers that can record chemical change, vibrational motion and the movement of electrons on these very short timescales.The ultrafast timescale is where fundamental physics meets biology. Fundamental knowledge of chemical and physical properties on the ultrafast timescale underpins our understanding of ALL biological properties on the microsecond to second timescales (and beyond). Femtosecond lasers have been developed and utilised in the physical sciences and increasingly are having major impact in the biological sciences. Early wins include demonstration of 'quantum wierdness' (e.g. entanglement and coherence) in biological photosynthesis, and analysis of early chemical events in biological catalysis. These ultrafast methods provide versatile tools with wide-ranging applications. In this proposal we aim to establish a unique multi-functional ultrafast instrument, supported with expert physical and biological sciences expertise, that will transform a wide range of multi-user bioscience projects in the UK, by exploiting the power of ultrafast spectroscopy. This will provide crucial fundamental knowledge that will allow, for example, the design and exploitation of bioscience components in biotechnology and industrial applications, and contribute to the emerging science of synthetic biology through knowledge-based design.