Beckstein's research group uses and develops computational methods to better understand the molecular mechanisms of biological processes. A special focus is on the quantitative prediction of the function and activity of proteins from the knowledge of their structures alone. The group has special expertise in transmembrane transport processess catalyzed by membrane proteins such as secondary active transporters and ion channels. The group contributes to the fields of structural biology, physiology, nanobiotechnology, and drug discovery. Professor Beckstein has also broad interests in computational method and software development, including the development of novel algorithms to sample and analyze molecular systems. He is a co-founder and core developer of the widely used open source MDAnalysis library for the analysis of biomolecular simulations.
Education
D.Phil. Biochemistry, University of Oxford, UK 2005
Diplom (Physik). Physics, Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany 1999
Many proteins in the living cell can be understood as molecular machines that use a source of energy to produce mechanical or chemical work. The lab's primary interest is in those proteins located in the cell membrane that move nutrients, signalling molecules, or waste products into and out of the cell. We study their molecular mechanisms of action by detailed molecular dynamics simulations, which provide a "movie" of full atomic detail of a working protein.Current areas of interest focus on the mechanisms of secondary active transport; methods to accurately simulate macromolecular transitions that are crucial in understanding ligand binding, gating in ion channels, or the translocation of substrates through the cell membrane; and the role of water in confined geometries, for instance in ion channel gating mechanisms or ligand discrimination.
