Marko's lab applies statistical mechanics and single-molecule micromanipulation -- principally magnetic tweezers -- to chromosome structure and DNA-protein interactions, studying how condensin, topoisomerases, and other nucleoid-associated proteins organize and mechanically stabilize chromatin and mitotic chromosomes in vivo and in vitro. The group combines force spectroscopy with fluorescence microscopy to resolve single-DNA and single-chromosome mechanics at the piconewton scale.

Willem Vanderlinden uses high-resolution biophysical tools to study protein-nucleic acid interactions. Research: (1) magnetic tweezers for pN-scale force and torque measurements on single DNA molecules and nucleoprotein complexes during retroviral integration, DNA supercoiling, and chromatin remodelling; (2) high-speed AFM imaging of nucleoprotein complexes and chromosomal organisation; (3) quantitative single-molecule statistical analysis of DNA topology. His approach provides cutting-edge spatial resolution to study chromatin biophysics and mobile DNA elements at the single-molecule level.