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| Name |
Onuchic, José N. |
| Location
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Rice University |
| Primary Field
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Physics |
| Secondary Field
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Biophysics and Computational Biology |
 Election Citation
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Onuchic developed the quantitative theory of electron tunneling in proteins and explained how electron transfer rates depend on protein structure. He introduced the funnel concept into the protein folding field. Using this concept and energy landscape theory, he quantitatively explained the kinetics of protein folding. |
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Research Interests
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Onuchic's main goal is to lead the biological physics community as it attempts to devise an integrated picture of a variety of biochemical and biological systems. His research has expanded across many scales from molecular-level interactions to cellular systems to organized multi-cellular structures. At Rice he moved towards medical applications focusing on cancer. In protein folding, he has introduced the concept of protein folding funnels as a mechanism for the folding of proteins. Convergent kinetic pathways, or folding funnels, guide folding to a unique, stable, native conformation. Energy landscape theory and the funnel concept provide the theoretical framework needed to pose and to address the questions of protein folding and function mechanisms. He also works on the theory of chemical reactions in condensed matter with emphasis on biological electron transfer. He is also interested in stochastic effects in genetic networks. His research has shown how each bacterium performs a sophisticated decision process by using a network of genes and proteins. Connections between bacteria decision-making in a colony with cancer are being explored. Further expanding ideas coming from energy landscapes for protein folding, his group is now exploring chromatin folding and function and therefore modeling the 3D structure of the genome. |
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