Biochemical observational science at THz energies

Abstract

In this overview we will explore how current terahertz (THz) and sub-THz experimental systems are being used in a variety of ways to visualise and indeed, controllably excite biochemical processes. For example, a contributing cause to disease is known to be due to mis-folding proteins. But how proteins fold in order to perform a biological task is a deep mystery. The difficulty in understanding what happens comes from not being able to ‘see’ clearly what happens experimentally. Sub-THz spectrometry based on high resolution systems (vector network analysers) can record vibrational modes from absorption spectra. Antenna engineering presents biology with a means for understanding their molecular systems as equivalent electrical circuits. From the measured frequency absorption spectra of the protein we seek to learn from the protein's vibrational structure, its folding trajectory. Finally we will look at how deliberate, targeted, excitation of specific vibrational modes of molecules can be used to effect new reaction pathways to create an intelligent and engineered approach to RF-assisted chemistry.