Connecting The Knots

COLLEGE OF NATURAL SCIENCES AND MATHEMATICS

Dr. Alexander Klotz, Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, started graduate school without a firm idea of which research field he wanted to go into. After listening to an enthusiastic presentation about single-molecule biophysics from a new faculty member, Dr. Klotz decided to join the faculty member’s research group. Several years later, Dr. Klotz began researching DNA knots as a postdoc. “During this time, I read a lot about the physics of knots, and it is something I have continued to study at CSULB. I also learned about the chainmail DNA that comes from parasites and was fascinated by how weird and complex the structure was and began to do experiments with it. When I came to CSULB in 2019, I knew my research would focus on chainmail DNA and knots but could not predict the next five years.”

Dr. Klotz’s research has branched out since coming to California State University, Long Beach, but the core idea is that he studies DNA with complex topology to learn more about how molecules and materials made from molecules behave. “Complex topology refers to how the molecule is connected to itself; knots and chain links are both examples of complex topology. The main system I have been studying is the kinetoplast, the DNA chainmail network that comes from parasite mitochondria. My first grant from the NSF was to explore the physics of two-dimensional materials using kinetoplasts. There is a lot of technological interest in such materials, but experiments with the types of molecules that people want to use in future technologies are too difficult, so we use DNA.

“My CAREER (Faculty Early Development Career Development Program) award expands the breadth of my research rather than the depth, and I plan to branch into many other areas. This includes computer simulations of the types of molecules I study in the lab, studying how ‘living fluids’ convert energy into motion, trying to develop a new technology for reading genetic information, and working to incorporate research into the classroom so students can experience scientific discovery firsthand.”

The most immediate impact of Dr. Klotz’s research is that it will support a lot of different research projects for students at the undergraduate and master’s level. This will give them skills in hands-on lab work, programming, and data analysis, and allow them to experience the thrill of discovering something new that nobody has before. It will also support travel opportunities to conferences and labs at other universities. “I will be able to purchase equipment for my experiments that will expand the infrastructure of what experiments are possible on campus, which will last beyond the scope of the grant and can be used. My research is typically a few layers of abstraction removed from practical applications, so we will have to wait a bit longer to see where that leads.”