Previous Projects — Genomic Mapping and Confined DNA

Working with Kevin Dorfman as a PhD student at the University of Minnesota, I studied some fundamental polymer physics problems related to the confinement of DNA in genomic devices with widths near 50 nm. The physics of DNA at these length scales has important ramifications for genomic mapping technologies.

Selected Presentations

• DNA confined in Nanochannels and Nanoslits. Thesis defense at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, MN. May 1, 2014. slides

• Crossover behavior in confined semiflexible polymers. Padden award session at the American Physical Society annual meeting in Denver, CO. March 3, 2014. slides

Selected Publications

• The Odijk Regime in Slits. D. R. Tree, W. F. Reinhart, and K. D. Dorfman. Macromolecules 47, 3672–3684 (2014). html, preprint

• Extension of DNA in a Nanochannel as a Rod-to-Coil Transition. D. R. Tree, Y. Wang, and K. D. Dorfman. Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 208103 (2013) html, preprint

• Is DNA a Good Model Polymer? D. R. Tree, A. Muralidhar, P. S. Doyle, and K. D. Dorfman. Macromolecules 46, 8369–8382 (2013) html, preprint

• Mobility of a Semiflexible Chain Confined in a Nanochannel. D. R. Tree, Y. Wang, and K. D. Dorfman. Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 228105 (2012). html, preprint